Angel girl
by LovemyPadfootMarauder
Summary: Sam and Dean Winchester have a little sister and she's something special. Dean, Sam, Castiel, Bobby, yellow eyed demon all included.  I just changed the rating to M because of stories being deleted without warning as another of my fics was so.. yeah it's not really M I'm just being safe
1. Chapter 1

This is a story about the winchesters

the story line is mostly the same except sam and dean have a little sister.

This story starts off with John already dead and Dean already made the deal to save sam.

The ages might be different than the series.


	2. Chapter 2

"Dean, shut up." Kate said to her older brother in an attempt to get him to stop singing, badly. Dean Sam and Katie Winchester were driving down a highway in Tennessee on their way back home from Katie's high school graduation. Both her brothers had showed up, which was surprising enough without knowing that they were planning on staying in town for awhile. When her name was called she had heard the sound of a fog horn and her brothers and Bobby yelling. She couldn't help but laugh.

"What?" Dean asked, "I can't be happy for my baby sister graduating from high school." He looked over at her in the passenger seat, the seat Sam had allowed her to have just this once.

"Can you be happy without breaking my eardrums?" She asked sarcastically.

He gave her a mock hurt expression. "Fine."

He looked back to road and they sat in peaceful quite for moment. Dean sighed, "Mom and Dad would've been proud kid."

Katie looked to her hands tears pooling in her eyes. " I know." She answered in a voice thick with tears. Sam reached up and squeezed her shoulder in sympathy, John had been to his graduation.

She was the youngest in the family being only seventeen, only a month from eighteen, and her brothers twenty-three and twenty-seven. Their father the famous hunter John Winchester had died the summer before after making the deal to save Dean's life. Katie missed him the most, moreover the idea of him because she knew him the least. Dean was their dad's perfect soldier. She knew that her brothers had a relationship with their father that she never had, and that knowledge cut her to the core every time she thought about it.

Dean pulled the car up the driveway of their house, or really Katie' house, since she was the only one who lived there regularly. John had gotten the house a couple of years before so that Katie could have some kind of stable school career. Sam and Dean came back every couple of weeks to make sure she was alright, but most of the time she lived on her own. Bobby was only twenty minutes away if she needed anything and she often went by his place after school to say hello. They were a family in way, Bobby and the Winchester kids.

Katie laid her cap and gown on the back of the couch and headed towards the kitchen. "What do you guys want for dinner?" she asked over her shoulder opening the fridge and pulling out two beers. They followed her into the kitchen and she handed them the drinks.

"You aren't cooking today." Sam said to her. "We'll order takeout or something."

"Yeah, Sammy call up that chinese place down the road." Dean said and took a swig from his can. Sam nodded and pulled out his cell.

Dean looked around and shook his head. "I don't know where you find the time to keep this place so clean."

Katie just laughed.

After dinner they sat in the living room in front of the TV they weren't really watching.

"So college in the fall, you're growing up too fast kid." Dean said with a chuckle turning his face towards the TV.

Katie averted her eyes and caught Sam's knowing gaze. She gave him a pointed look and sighed, "Well boys, I think I'm off to bed. thank you for coming." She got up and kissed her brother's foreheads before heading down the hall and into her room. She changes into her pjs and grabbed a book from her desk.

She climbed into bed and began to read. She read until she heard the TV in the living room shut off and Dean's door close shut. With a sigh she threw back the covers and opened her door. She padded down the hallway and entered the living room. In one wall there was a large window with a comfortable sized window seat that overlooked their front yard. This is where she always sat late into the night when she had alot on her mind. Tonight it was Dean and his desire for her to go to college.

Unlike with Sam her father never wanted her to start right away as a hunter. He wanted her to at least go to college before going into the family business of slaying monsters. But after losing her Mother and her father at such a young age she didn't want to miss anymore of the precious time her brothers had left. She and Dean had already lost Sam once.

The memory of that night always left her feeling cold and filled with grief. When Bobby had called her to tell her Sam had been stabbed through the back and was dead she had dropped the phone and started sobbing. It had taken her a few moments to calm down enough to pick it back up. Bobby told her where they were and she jumped into her car and drove. the whole time with tears streaming down her cheeks. When Sam woke up and Dean came through the door a few minutes later she had been overjoyed until she and Sam had realized what Dean had done. As of now Dean only had seven months left and she had vowed to be there for every minute of it.

"Hey." Sam's soft voice cut through her dark thoughts.

She didn't even turn around, she didn't have to. Sam always knew what she was thinking without asking.

"I saw your face earlier, when Dean mentioned college." Sam said to her in the dark. She turned her face away and looked outside, catching her reflection out of the corner of her eye.

"You're not going are you?" he asked her quietly.

"No, I'm not" she replied in a voice barely louder than a whisper.

"Dean would understand, if you expl-" Sam began.

"No he wouldn't, Sam. you know he wouldn't." She looked at him then tears pooling in her eyes. "He'll say, just because I'm going to Hell doesn't mean you shouldn't go to school. Besides, Sam, it's _what Dad wanted_." She said in a bitter voice.

Sam sighed and motioned for her to sit up so she could lean back on him. He wrapped his arms around her and spoke. "He'd rather you tell him, then you just not go."

"It'll be a fight either way Sam." She replied in an even tone.

Sam sighed, she was right of course there would be a fight either way and it was no use arguing with her.

Neither of them moved and Katie slowly felt her eyes grow heavy. Both her brothers had the gift of helping her fall asleep when she was angry, scared or sad. She never went to her Dad when she had nightmares she always went to Dean, and he'd let her crawl into his bed and she would fall asleep with her head on his chest. Tonight it was Sam who helped her fall asleep and she helped him fall asleep.

Dean found them there in the morning when he came down the hall for something to drink. He chuckled to himself and opened the fridge.

When he came back into the living room Katie was blinking awake. She gave him a confused look before realizing where she was. She pulled herself up and shook Sam awake. "Get up." She said in a groggy voice.

She didn't wait to see if he listened to her she pushed past Dean grabbing his water at the same time. "Hey!" he called after her. She half smiled and went into her room. It was too early to be waking up, she thought as she crawled under the covers of her bed. In a few seconds she was asleep again.

The three siblings sat with Bobby in his cramped kitchen later that afternoon talking and laughing. Katie and Sam had come to an understanding not to mention the college issue to Dean.

"How long you boys staying in town?" Bobby asked after a good laugh.

"Ah, a week or two, then I was thinking Kate here could spend the summer hunting with us." Dean said casually.

Katie looked at Dean in surprise, "you're going to let me go hunting with you?" She asked in a voice high with excitement.

"Yeah. Sam and I think you're ready." Dean said looking at her proudly, "We'll work with you on your shooting this week too."

"You didn't tell me!" She said with an accusing look at Sam.

"It was a surprise." Sam said in explanation. She jumped up and hugged Dean tight. "thank you." She said lightly. Bobby watched them with a smile.

Dean looked a bit uncomfortable, "Don't mention it, Sam will need your help when I'm gone."

All the happiness in the room was sucked out and Katie felt the icy terror grip her heart. With tears in her eyes she frowned at Dean, "Don't talk like that. We'll find a way to save you, we have to." we will save you Dean no matter what it takes Katie thought, no matter what it takes.

"You're gripping it too tight, here." Dean said, helping his sister grasp the gun she was learning to fire.

"Like this?" Katie asked him.

"Yeah." Dean pointed ahead to the targets they had pinned to the cars in Bobby's yard. "Now give it a go."

She looked at him for a second and he nodded encouragingly. Sam and Bobby were watching silently a couple of feet behind her. Dean stepped back to give her some room. Alright, here it goes, she thought grimly as she aimed for the head on her target. She was expecting to be at least a foot off her mark.

Bang. She pulled the trigger. She dropped her arm in astonishment. Sam and Bobby cheered laughing. Dean stared at her target in shock. The bullet had hit dead center on the target's head. "Holy shit." She breathed, a grin slowly spreading across her face.

"Lucky shot." Dean said. She turned on him, "Was not!"

"Then do it again." he retorted.

She snorted at him, "Fine, I will." She turned back, aimed and fired.

Satisfied she looked at her brother, "See."

He grumbled for a moment before stalking over to the target and pulling it down. Sam chuckled and walked over to her.

"What's his problem?" Katie grumbled to her brother.

"He's just pissed that it took him three months to hit a bulls eye." Sam laughed.


	3. Chapter 3

Katie sat comfortably in the back of the impala listening to Dean hum along with the radio. It had been a week since target practice at Bobby's and they had just come off of a hunt for an angry spirt and were now on their way to Ohio. She had done very well on the hunt. She had good instincts and was quick on her feet.

"What are we hunting exactly?" Katie asked Sam.

"Demon possession." Sam answered, "Three people dead in the last week, police are classifying them as suicides."

Huh, she thought, this could be a dangerous one.

"And, you." Dean said pointing at her, "Are going to be extremely careful. You hear me?"

"I hear ya Dean." She sighed, "No need to go all paternal."

Dean grumbled to himself and Sam smiled at his disgruntled expression. Dean mumbled something about not being paternal and they lapsed back into companionable silence.

They had been on the road for a couple more hours when they pulled into a small shipping town motel parking lot. "Wake up. We're here." Dean said to Katie and Sam who had fallen asleep not long before.

Katie and Sam gathered their duffle bags together while Dean went to go get them a room. "You need to tell him." Sam said to her while she reached into the backseat to get her phone.

"Not now Sam." She said shortly.

"No, you need to tell him." Sam persisted.

"Drop it." She snapped as Dean came into sight with a motel key card.

She dropped her bags onto the armchair next to the table. "Who you sharing with?" Dean asked her over his shoulder talking about where she was going to sleep.

"You" she replied, she wasn't going to share with Sam if he was going to keep insisting she tell Dean about college. "I'm taking a shower."

Sam and Dean mumbled their consent while they pulled their things out of their bags.

She stepped out of the bathroom an hour later her hair dried and in her pajamas. Sam had all his research spread out over the table and he and Dean were looking it over. Dean looked up from the laptop, "Finally." he said and walked past her into the bathroom. She heard the water turn on a few seconds later.

She avoided Sam's eyes as she sat down in front of the computer. She tapped away at it for a minute before Sam sighed.

"You're going to be 18 in a month, squirt." Sam said to her.

She looked up at him and smiled, "Yeah."

"You want to do anything special? You know maybe go back to Bobby's and call a couple of other Hunters for a little party?" He asked her.

God no, she thought. "Naw I'd rather just spend it with my brothers."

"Kay." Sam said.

She sighed, they would be looking for the demon early tomorrow after breakfast. "Goodnight Sam."

"Night." She laid down on her side of the bed unable to close her eyes and sleep, she had a bad feeling about this hunt but she wasn't about to mention it to her brothers. She stared at the comforter that she pulled over her head long after Dean had laid down next to her. Late into the night she had finally fallen into a fitful sleep.

She woke when Dean got out of bed and started talking to Sam. She grunted, pulled the covers back and sat up yawning. Sam looked at her with concern, "You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, just tired. I didn't sleep well." She said groggily rubbing her eyes. Her long straight hair tickled her face and brushed it back angrily.

"I know. You kept tossing and turning all night." Dean said sarcastically.

Katie got dressed quickly trying to shake the ominous feeling that had crept up on her the night before. She and her brothers sat in a diner a half hour later. "Where are we looking first?" She asked Dean with a mouthful of eggs.

"Attractive." He commented, "Old fishing warehouse down by the dock. One of the bodies was found there."

She groaned internally, great the smell of rotten fish and demons, lovely.

Dean pulled the car over in a dirt lot in front of the warehouse. The trio got out of the car and came around to the trunk. Sam and Dean grabbed their guns, salt and holy water. Sam handed Katie a flashlight and Dean gave her a serious look before he held out a gun to her. She took in carefully and slipped into the back of her jeans. Dean closed the trunk and started off towards the warehouse with Katie and Sam trailing behind.

Dean broke the lock on the front door easily and he slipped inside. Katie followed after Sam and pulled her gun out keeping it ready in her hand. They searched a few hallways and Sam and Dean walked through the doorway into the main warehouse room. Katie was a few feet behind them. She paused for a moment and then lifted her arm pointing her gun at the back of Dean's head a few feet in front of her.

"Dean." She called.

"What?" He asked and turned around. He looked at her warily and he lifted his hands in the air, with his gun in one hand. Sam turned around and gasped.

"Katie what are you doing?" he asked in shock.

"Don't be stupid Sam, what does it look like I'm doing." She laughed arrogantly. She looked down and closed her eyes for a moment. She raised her head and opened her eyes revealing yellow irises.

"No." Dean groaned as Sam said, "Not you."

"Let her go you bastard." Dean said angrily letting his arms drop down.

"Now Dean is that really how you talk to your baby sister." Yellow eyes said in a tauntingly in their sister's voice.

"Let her go, or I swear Ill kill you." Sam growled.

"If you kill me you kill Katie." The demon said.

"She would rather be dead then let you live in her body." Dean yelled.

"Would she? You don't know her very well Dean." Dean glowered at the demon as it ket talking, "You don't even know that Daddy's favorite kid isn't going to college, because of you."

"Bastard." Sam yelled tears running down his cheeks. "Just let her go."

"Why would I do that Sammy boy? You're just angry that Daddy loved me more than you big brother." Katie's voice said.

"You're not our sister." Dean yelled.

"Oh yeah?" The demon raised Katie's arms in an inviting gesture, "Then use that colt in your hand and kill me."

"Don't tempt me." Dean growled aiming the gun at his sister's possessed body.

"Shoot me Dean, shoot the little angel girl. She'll be joining mommy and daddy soon enough anyway." The demon laughed.

Dean fired and the bullet hit Katie's body in the stomach knocking her onto the floor.

Sam and Dean watched in horror as Katie's eyes switched back and forth from yellow to blue. They settled on blue and Katie cried out, "Dammit Dean, shoot!"

Dean held the gun out staring at her in horror.

"Hurry up! Kill it! I can't hold it much longer." She yelled in pain. he teeth clenching with the effort of holding Yellow Eyes in.

"Don't do it Dean." Sam yelled.

"Ahhhh." Katie screamed as black smoke poured out of her mouth. When the demon was gone she fell back weakly onto the ground. Dean ran to her side and landed on his knees.

"She's still alive." He yelled. He gathered her into his arms and started for the door at a run Sam following behind him. They both had tears running down their faces.

Sam got into the drivers seat and they peeled out heading for the nearest hospital.

On the road Dean was holding his hands to her bleeding wound when she opened her eyes blindly. "Dean." She whispered.

Sam looked over in shock and Dean said, "I'm here, kid you're going to be ok."

She mumbled something unintelligible.

"What?" Dean asked desperately.

"You idiot." She said weakly.

Dean laughed halfheartedly tasting salt water on his tongue.

"You should have shot it..." She trailed off.

Dean leaned his ear to her mouth, she wasn't breathing. "Sam!" He shouted.

Sam slammed his foot on the gas and spun into the ER parking lot. Dean threw open the door and climbed out. Sam ran ahead inside and started yelling. Dean came in with his sister's lifeless body in his arms. "She's not breathing!"

An ER doctor came running over as Dean laid her onto an available gurney. "I need a crash cart!" He shouted over his shoulder.

Sam and Dean were held back by a nurse as the doctor shocked their sister with the paddles. "Charge to 300. Damn, 360."

The monitor stayed flat and Sam crouched down and held his face in his hands in anguish. Dean was sobbing practically ripping his hair out with his fingers.

Beep Beep. To Sam and Dean it was the most beautiful sound in the world. A nurse came over to the hysterical brothers. "We are taking your sister into to surgery now. I'll have another nurse give you some paperwork and escort you to the waiting room.

The numb brothers let themselves be ushered into a room filled with chairs. they were unable to answer the questions asked to them and were left alone to worry about their baby sister.

After an hour of tense silence Dean let out a surprised gasp.

"What?" Sam asked him in a dull voice.

Dean was staring down at his pocket where his cell phone was pushing itself out of his pocket. he and Sam watched it in shocked silence as it flipped open and settled into his hand. The screen changed to a blank text message and letters began appearing on the screen.

**I still think you're an idiot**. it read

Sam and Dean looked at each other wearing identical expressions of horror.

"Katie?" Dean asked weakly.

**Duh.**

"What.. How.. Are you..?" Sam questioned.

**Don't worry, I'm not dead... at least not yet.**

"Then how?" Dean said confused.

**No idea I'm still in surgery though.**

"Oh god, Katie this is my fault, I'm so sorry." Dean choked.

**I forgive you :] **

"I don't forgive me." Dean said darkly.

"Listen to her Dean she'll be fine." Sam encouraged.

**Yeah Dean lighten up. I'll be fine.**

"You don't know that."

**No, I guess I don't but I'm more curious why Yellow Eyes called me little angel girl.**

"Yeah what the hell was that about." Sam cut in with a frown.

"I don't know." Dean said honestly.

**Huh well I guess we can talk abo**

"Katie?" Sam asked after a few seconds went by and nothing more had been typed.

Dean looked at Sam with fear in his eyes. The sat in silence until a scrub nurse came out of the OR. "Family of Katie Young." She called.

"Young?" Sam asked Quietly while the nurse hurried over to them. Dean shrugged and looked at the nurse expectantly.

"Hi, we just got your sister out of surgery and she's stable." She said with a smile.

"thank God." Sam said quietly.

"there were some complications. The doctor stopped the bleeding from her wound but her heart stopped. We were able to restart it but we will have to monitor her closely for the next 24 hours." The nurse explained.

"When can we see her?" Dean cut in eagerly.

"You can follow me. She won't be awake for a few hours but you can sit with her." the nurse led them into a room in the ICU.

Katie lay on the bed with an IV in her arm, monitors on her chest and an oxygen line in her nose. Her dark hair contrasted sharply with her ghostly white pale face. Dean took the seat closest to her and held her hand lightly in both of his. He sniffed his nose and whispered, "God what did I do?"

Sam put his hand on Dean's shoulder, "It's not your fault Dean."

Dean looked at him angrily, "How can you even say that? I shot her."

Sam shook his head sadly, "You shot Yellow Eyes."

"Doesn't make a difference, she still got hurt."

Sam had no reply to that. They sat until the room started to get dark as night fell.

A light groan made them both leap to their feet. Dean reached out and cupped her face with his palm. She scrunched her nose and opened her eyes slowly.

"God, you're awake." Sam said in a relieved voice.

She looked around in confusion and her eyes settled on Dean's anxious face. "How do you feel?"

"Weird." She whispered, "Water?"

"Here." Sam said quietly and handed her the cup of water on the nightstand.

"Tired." She whispered and closed her eyes.

"Sleep,kid. we'll be here." Dean said quietly and kissed her forehead.


	4. Chapter 4

"hey man." Sam's voice cut through the silence waking Katie up.

"Hey you." A soft voice said by her ear. She smiled before opening her eyes, she knew that voice.

"Hi." She replied her eyes meeting Sebastian's dark green eyes. his dark hair was falling into his eyes as he leaned forward to give her a peck on the lips.

"You leave for a week and manage to get yourself shot. What am i going to do with you?" He laughed. Sebastian is a Hunter his father was good friends with John. Sebastian was Nineteen and had been hunting with his dad for the past year.

"Did you call him?" she asked Sam who was looking at us with a smile.

He shook his head, "Dean did."

She frowned, "Where is Dean?" He better not be beating himself up again. All day yesterday he was sitting at her bedside with a frown.

"He said he was going to get some decent food." Sam said with a shrug.

She looked back to Sebastian who was sitting on the edge of her bed smiling at her. "Dean made it sound like you were dying."

She was about to reply when Sam cut in with a grim tone, "She almost did, when we got her here her heart wasn't beating. Then it stopped again in surgery."

"But I didn't die. So I would like to know when I'm getting out of here." Katie said lightly. "I can lie in bed all day at home. I don't need to be here."

"well where ever you are Dean and I are staying with you." Sam said.

"And Me." Sebastian added.

I don't need to be smothered, she thought.

Dean chose that moment to appear. "Ah you made it." He nodded at Sebastian.

"Did you bring me food?" Katie asked eagerly stretching her neck to try and see what was in the doggie bags Dean was carrying.

"Yeah." he set the bags on his chair and leaned over to kiss her cheek and laid the back of his hand on her forehead. "Hey Kid. How are you feeling? You're a little warm."

"I'm fine Dean, stop being a mother hen." She sighed.

"You sure, I think I should have the doctor come check you out." Dean said with concern.

"Dean." Katie sighed again. "So what do I get." She smiled.

"Pig." Dean laughed. He leaned over and pulled out a styrofoam box that smelled like pancakes and sausage.

Her eyes got greedy and she reached out. "Gimmie"

"Like I said Pig."

"Mean." Katie said with a fake pout before she took a bit of her breakfast.

Katie ignored the pain in her stomach that had been bothering her since she woke up from surgery but she was determined not to let her brothers see how much pain she was in. Maybe it was childish but she didn't want to seem weak.

The morning passed quickly, the doctor came in to give her a check up and told her that she was free to go home as long as she rested for the rest of the week. If something hurt to do she wasn't supposed to do it. Basically she was supposed to take it easy, but she was a Winchester and Winchester's don't do well with listening to medical advice.

The car ride back home was painful for her but she was glad to be going home. As soon as the week was up she was planning on begging her brothers to let her come with them. She was determined to be back hunting at least by her 18th birthday.

When the car door opened and she climbed outside Sebastian and Bobby were waiting. She groaned internally and slowly got out of the car. Bobby hugged her lightly. "Don't you do that to me again, ye hear?"

"Sorry for scaring you Bobby." She smiled.

"Come on squirt." Sam said helping her up the front porch steps and into the house.

* * *

Sorry this was so short but its really just a filler chapter. :]]


	5. Chapter 5

"Come On Dean!" Katie begged to her oldest brother, who was too worried about his little sister to listen to reason. "Please, Dean."

He turned around, "No, it's too soon."

"Dean, she's been trapped inside this house for almost too weeks. She's not a baby anymore." Sam tried to put in reasonably.

"Oh, so you want her to get hurt again!" Dean shouted irrationally at Sam.

"You know I don't but she's almost 18 she can come with us if she wants too." Sam said angrily.

"Dean, Please." Katie looked at him tragically with her blue eyes. He studied at her for a long time before looking and away and walking down the hall.

"Get your stuff." He said to her.

"Thank you Dean!" She called after him. She looked at Sam with a goofy grin on her face and he couldn't help but laugh.

"Go pack." He said to her and she turned and ran into her room. She gathered her things as quickly as she could so she would be ready before Dean decided to leave without her. She came out into the hall with her bags packed and found Sam and Dean waiting in the kitchen.

"Ready." She sang with a smile on her face.

Dean gave her a pained look, "Let's go before I change my mind, I'm already regretting it." He walked past her and into the hall picking up her bags on the way. Sam put his arm around her shoulders and they walked outside.

Dean sat in the drivers seat and placed his hands on the wheel. "Where to Sammy?"

"Michigan." sam answered putting on his seat belt. Katie just sat in the back seat quietly a grin on her face.

After they had been driving for while Dean turned his head to look at her, "You're going to be 18 day after tomorrow kid, I don't like it."

Sam laughed, "I don't either. You need to be 5 years old again."

"No thanks" She replied in a amused tone.

The next night they pulled into a motel in Northern Michigan after getting rid of a nasty spirit that hour before. They hadn't decided where to go next so they were planning on staying the next day to research then leave for their next hunt the day after.

Inside the room Katie dove onto the bed and mumbled, "Ugh.. So tired."

Sam and Dean chuckled and got out some of their things placing them on the table and the beds.

"Shower." Katie groaned heading into the bath room with her bag. When she was finished she sat herself cross legged on the bed and watched her brothers chatter about mysterious deaths.

"Come on guys, go to bed. We can find a case tomorrow." Kate said with a smile. They both looked up at her and then Sam got up.

"You're right." Dean said lightly.

Katie jolted awake. She turned her head to the side and the alarm clock next to the bed read 12:00 am. Then she noticed something watching her. She slid her hand slowly under her pillow, her fingers brushing the cold hard metal of her gun. She pulled it out swiftly and looked to the table. A man was watching her emotionlessly. He was wearing a suit in tie covered with a tan trench coat.

"Who the Hell are you?" She breathed aiming the gun at the intruder and trying to shake Dean awake with her other hand.

"They aren't going to wake up." The man said nodded at her attempts to rouse her brother from sleep, "Not yet."

"Who are you?" She asked again.

"Castiel." The man replied.

She breathed out sharply in irritation, "Let me rephrase, what are you?"

He stood up from his seat at the table and looked at her evenly. "I am an angel of the Lord."

She laughed, a short bark of a sound, "Yeah right."

Lighting flashed and two black wings rose as shadows on the walls behind him. Katie stared her mouth wide open in shock.

"Let's pretend I believe you, why are you here?"She asked her gun never leaving it's position aimed at his head.

"I'm here to show you your gift." he said.

"What are you talking about?" She asked her voice wavering.

The man studied her determined expression before answering. "You have angel blood."

Her mind immediately flashed back to the day Yellow Eyes possessed her. Calling her the little angel girl. Was she finally going to get some answers?

"But, why me?" She asked the so called angel.

Castiel looked at her evenly, "God has big plans for you and your brothers."

She scoffed angrily, "Yeah, sure. Just tell me what you want."

"I'm just here to tell you that you're a Shadowhunter." Castiel sighed.

"A What?" Katie asked with a blatantly confused expression.

"Shadowhunter. You have mostly Angel blood in your veins, my blood. Properly trained you will have powers unlike anything you've ever seen." Castiel walked closer and Katie backed up on the bed until she was sitting against the headboard.

"Stay away from me" She warned. Castiel didn't listen to her. She fired the gun and the bullet had no effect on the angel.

He turned her left hand and turned over her wrist. He looked into her eyes and touched two fingers to her wrist with a burning pressure. Her eyes grew heavy and she fell back to sleep.

She blinked open her eyes to sunlight streaming into the room. She gasped as the events from last night cam flooding back to her. She bolted up to a sitting position breathing heavy. She looked in awe at her left wrist where a gold circle was branded into her skin. Runes in different shades of gold floated around the circle shifting constantly. She instinctively knew what each one meant. There was one for remembrance, speed, strength, stealth and others.

"What's wrong?" Dean asked in concern swiftly coming to her side when she jolted upright.

She didn't even answer him she just kept staring at her wrist. He grabbed it and stared at it. "What the hell is this?" Dean he whispered.

Sam chose that moment to come out of the bathroom. he saw Katie and Dean staring at each other and paused. "What's going on?"

Katie blinked and looked over at him in confusion. Dean lifted her wrist and showed it to Sam. "What is that?" he asked her.

"We need to go see Bobby." She whispered. After explaining to them what she remembered from her encounter with Castiel Sam and Dean had agreed to go back to Tennessee to see Bobby.

"Hey Bobby, it's Sam." Sam said into his cell phone. He listened to Bobby's reply for a moment. "Yeah, we're fine. Are you home?"

Bobby said something on the other end and Sam answered, "Good, we should be by in about an hour. We need some answers."

"Alright see you Bobby." Sam snapped his phone shut and nodded at Dean.

Katie sat frustrated in the back seat her arms crossed staring out the window.

Sam sighed, "Tell me again what did Castiel say."

Katie let out her breath in an angry hiss, "I don't know Sam, He said God had big plans for the three of us."

"Did he tell you why?" Dean asked with a scowl.

"No, he didn't." Katie's tone was final.

They walked inside Bobby's house an hour later. "Bobby!" Dean called hanging his jacket on the hook.

"In here!" Bobby yelled from inside his office.

They found Bobby sitting at his desk, his head in a book. He looked up when they walked in and smiled. "There's my girl." He cam around the desk to give her a hug.

"So what do you Winchester's need?" he asked leaned against his desk and crossing his arms.

"information." Katie said and held out her hand. she pulled up her sleeve to show Bobby the swirling mark on her wrist. he stared at it in amazement for a moment.

"I've seen something like that before." Bobby said turning to one of the bookshelves. He scanned the covers until he found the one he was looking for He opened it on the desk and scanned the pages before he paused and put his finger on one. "Here."

The Winchester's looked over his shoulder, "Angels who fall from Heaven in the desire for humanity are born half angel half human. These children are called Shadowhunters. When the child reaches eighteen years of age their angel parent will visit them and mark them will a rune unique to each individual." Bobby read out loud to the siblings.

"So you're saying our sister is half angel?" Dean said angrily.

"Looks like it." Bobby said studying Katie intently. "Hasn't been a Shadowhunter for almost a thousand years. The last one was Robin Hood back in 1192."

"You are joking right?" Sam said with a nervous laugh. Dean was staring at Kate in concern as she sat shakily in one of Bobby's chairs.

"Can't say I am." Bobby laughed. "once she learns how to use her angel gifts she'll be powerful."

"Hang on." KAtie said with a frown. "I remember this book I read once, it was about Shadowhunters."

"Yeah it was a book series." Sam and Dean looked to her in surprise. "Fiction." She added.

"They used all these angel weapons they would make to kill demons." She was talking almost to herself.

Bobby nodded approvingly. "Shadowhunters can kill demons in a lot of different ways one of them happens to be using enchanted weapons."

"Enchanted weapons?" Dean echoed skeptically.

"There's a process they can take a knife and draw some runes on it say some words and presto demon killing knife." Bobby explained.

"In the book the knife were called seraph blades. And they used these things called steles to draw the runes." Katie added helpfully. "But it was just a story."

"Hardly anything is just a story." Sam said grimly. He was right after everything she and her brothers had seen they knew that hardly any of the horror stories weren't based in fact. Monsters were everywhere and there would always be something to go bump in the night. So what did that make her? Did that make her good all of the sudden.

"So what do we do?" Dean asked to no one in particular.

"I need some air." Katie said pushing past her brothers. They heard bobby's back door shut and they sighed.

"Let her think, it's a lot to digest." Bobby said softly.

"What's going o happen to her?" Sam asked quietly. Sam and Dean both looked at Bobby with Paternal concern in their eyes.

"She should be fine. She's a fighter, hell all you Winchesters are fighters. But when she does die she will get her grace back." Bobby looked at them evenly. "She'll become an angel again."

"So the angel that came to her, he'd her real father?" Sam asked.

"She has two families." Bobby said sternly. "You Winchesters are still her family she has Winchester blood, she just has angel blood too."

Katie had climbed up on one of the car stacks and was laying back watching the stars when Dean found her. He climbed up next to her. He didn't say anything he just waited for her to say something.

"What am I Dean?" She whispered shifting over to curl up against his side. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and hugged her tight.

"You're my baby sister." He said softly in her ear. "nothing will ever change that."

After they had been silent for awhile Kate spoke again, "Maybe, if I learn to use it, maybe I can save you."

He tensed and sighed, "Don't talk about it Kid."

She pushed herself up so that she was looking at him. "Don't do that Dean." She said in a firm tone. "Don't shut me out."

He closed his eyes, "I can't talk about it."

"Why not?" She asked softly.

"Because if we start talking about it, that makes it real. If we talk about it, it makes me think about how scared I am." Dean said to her looking at her with pleading eyes.

Dean didn't like to talk about how he was feeling he always focused on Sam and Katie and tried to push the focus off of himself.

"I'm sorry." She said thickly. Tears started to fall down her face and she buried it in his shoulder. He held her while she cried. He didn't say anything because he knew nothing would help. She just needed to cry it out. Dean felt her pain and his in that moment and he was close to sobbing with her. A lone tear slid down his face.

When her eyes slowly began to run dry she fell asleep. The mental and physical exhaustion that had plagued her that day had come to an end. The brothers drove home in silence that night their little sister asleep in the backseat.


	6. Chapter 6

When Katie woke the next morning it took her a moment to realize she was in her own room. She heard shouting in the hall and she opened her door to find her brothers shouting at each other with red faces.

Dean was in the middle of yelling something at Sammy when she opened the door, "-don't understand!"

"Why can't you just let us help you?! I have the power to do it and so does Katie! Why won't you let us?" Sam said loudly his despair outwaying his anger for a moment.

"What the Hell is going on?" Katie said loudly preventing Dean from forming a reply.

"Nothing." Sam scowled at Dean and turned down the hall. He turned the corner and Katie jumped when she heard the front door slam.

Dean was staring at his toes shoulders tight with tension.

She looked at him sadly, "Dean." She sighed.

"Please" he choked, "Don't."

He ran his fingers through his hair and walked slowly into his room, shutting the door behind him.

"Great." She huffed, just a way to start the morning. It happened more and more often since their dad had died. Sam and Dean differed in their definitions of raising a teenage sister. Although even the year before dad died she had been living on her own. Up until the time Sam left to go to Stanford she had gone a few weeks at a time to each school just like her brothers. John got the house when Sam left because he didn't want to have a falling out with Katie too. During the time Sam was at Stanford Katie had kept in touch him. Dean knew but John never did, and she was grateful to Dean for that. But now they were fighting, and for al the wrong reasons. All the Winchesters had the same stubbornness. Dean would die for Sam or Katie, heck he was dying for Sam.

Her brothers were so stupid, Dean and his stupid pride and Sam not understanding Dean's pain.

Katie was making omelets for the three of them just in case Sam came back soon. Dean was drawn to the kitchen after smelling the aroma of bacon and eggs.

Dean went straight for the omelet on the counter before he had the back of his hand slapped with a spatula. "I'm not done." She scolded him.

"Aw come on, you make something that smells that amazing and you don't let me eat it!" Dean whined. He had the gift for complementing her and complaining at her at the same time.

"Well... if you wait it will be even more amazing." She said with a chuckle. "Go sit down, I'll serve it to you in a sec."

Dean gave her a half smile half pout. Dean did not have the gift for waiting patiently, he started tapping his fingers on the table the minute he sat down.

"Be quiet." She said in an exasperated voice, "Consider yourself lucky to have a sister who loves you enough to cook for you. Especially a sister who can cook well." She placed his plate in front of him on the table and handed him a fork.

Dean dug in immediately, "Mmmmm. s' good" he moaned with his mouth full of eggs. She ruffled his hair affectionately.

"What do you want to drink?"

"juice." He grunted.

She gave him his juice and sat down next to him. They ate breakfast in an easy silence.

Dean leaned back in his chair with a satisfied grunt. "Damn, that was good." He commented, "thanks, kid."

She smiled at him, "I wish I could do it more often." She reflected sadly.

Dean sighed, "How much did you hear?"

She sobered immediately, "Just what Sammy said."

"Look, hun, I know you agree with Sam on this but please, please" He begged. "I just want things to be normal."

Katie scowled her mouth forming a firm line. "For now." She warned. she picked up their empty plates and glasses and set them in the sink. She turned the water on and rinsed the dishes before placing them in the dishwasher.

A crazy thought just popped into her head, "Dean."

"Yeah?" he asked.

"I just had an idea, about 'my gift'" She leaned up against that counter with a thoughtful smile.

"Sam, answer your damn phone" Katie said irritably into the phone when Sam's cell went to voicemail for 8th time. Katie was sitting on Bobby's kitchen counter trying to get ahold of Sam. "One more time." she muttered. She pressed the redial button and held the receiver to her ear. He answered on the second ring with an irritated hiss, "What, Katie?"

"Don't you 'what, Katie' me! Now get your ass to Bobby's pronto or I will personally kick it." She yelled.

"Is Dean there?" He asked stubbornly.

"Yes he is, but get over it Sam. This isn't about Dean it's about me." Katie growled she didn't give him time to answer snapping her shut.

"He coming?" Dean asked.

"He better." She snapped. "So Bobby, you have everything right?"

"Yes Ma'am." Bobby laughed.

She nodded in approval and Dean cast her a skeptical eye. "You really think this is going to be able to make one of those blade things."

She shrugged unconcernedly her fingers playing with the amulet around her neck. Sam and Dean gave it to her for her 10th birthday and she had worn it everyday since. Dean told her it had protective charms on it. She also had a silver protective ring on her right ring finger, Sebastian had given it to her the year before when they had first started dating. She felt suddenly guilty that she hadn't thought about him much and hadn't talked to him since the week after the accident. She pushed her troubled thoughts away.

"She should be able too no problem." Bobby added full of confidence in her, confidence she didn't really have in herself.

KAtie looked up hearing Bobby's screen door open and shut. "Why am I here?" Sam asked with a tired look on his face.

"God, Sam you could at least pretend you want to be here." Dean snapped.

"I'm here aren't I?" Sam said through his teeth.

"Cut it out both of you! I'm sick of playing referee." Katie shouted. "Sam's here," she continued in a much softer voice, "so let's get started."

She walked out of the kitchen expecting them to follow her into Bobby's office. She moved the bowl of holy water to the middle of the desk.

"What is all this?" Sam asked in concern.

KAtie didn't seem to hear him while she was silently looking over the supplies laid out over the desk.

"You would know if you bothered to stay this morning." Dean said arrogantly.

"Shut up Dean." Katie muttered. Everything was there the holy water, piece of iron, matches, a bowl of herbs and the silver knife.

"Okay I think I'm ready." Katie took a deep breath and picked up the piece of iron in her right hand.

"Ready for what?" Sam asked apprehensively.

"I'm making a stele Sam." Katie sighed.

"You know how to do that?" Sam scoffed.

She glared at him. "Those books I read explained the process and Bobby says I should be able to figure out the rest on instinct."

Sam just stared and Katie sighed focusing on the metal in her hand.

She dipped the iron into the holy water slowly and pulled it back out. She closed her eyes her lips soundlessly forming phrases in Latin. Her eyes opened and she reached for the bowl of herbs. She dipped her finger in the water and dropped a few drops of it onto herbs whispering again. She lit a match still whispering and lit the herbs on fire. Slipping a heat resistant glove on her hand she picked up the iron and held it in the flame. The orange flames changed to blue and purple, sparking when she twisted and turned the metal.

Sam Dean and Bobby watched her in entrapped silence.

She picked up the knife in her hand and pulled the iron from the flames, quickly she etched runes into the soft metal. The runes shimmered gold. She dropped the knife and lowered the metal into the water. It steamed and hissed. She chanted softly still speaking in Latin letting the metal sink drop to the bottom of the glass bowl. When the water stopped steaming she reached into the bowl and drew out the metal.

Except it wasn't metal anymore. Somehow the rod of iron had been transformed into a crystal looking rod. It had a faint glow surrounding it and the the runes etched into it shimmered with golden light. KAtie was no longer chanting but she was staring at the stele in awe. Turning it over in her fingers.

She sank into the chair behind her, her energy spent. Dean came forward and put his hand to her clammy cheek. She let the stele roll onto the desk.

Bobby's eyes flickered between Katie's pale face and the crystal that was rolling around on the desk, his brows furrowed in concern.

Sam took a cautious step forward and hesitantly picked up the stele. "How did you...?" He whispered.

"Instinct." She whispered back casting a knowing eye at Sam.

"Come on." Dean said hoisting her up, "I need to get you to bed."

She leaned on him heavily in her exhaustion. "Guest room." Bobby said to Dean who nodded.

Bobby watched Sam while he studied the stele with a frown. Bobby sighed, "Why are you idjits fighting?"

Sam scowled and set the stele on the desk. "Dean won't let us save him, I'm just surprised Katie's taking his side."

"She's not taking my side." Dean entered the room with a tired look. "I made her promise to just let it go."

"Dean." Sam hesitated. "I don't want to fight, I just want to save you." Sam had tears in his eyes but was determined not to let them fall this time.

Dean sighed and shared a knowing glance with Bobby.

"What aren't you telling me?" Sam asked suspiciously.

"If you save him-" Bobby was cut off with an angry growl from Dean.

"Don't Bobby."

Bobby ignored him and cleared his throat. "If we save Dean, you die."

Sam choked in surprise and stared into Dean's guilty eyes.

"One year to live, if he gets out of it you go back to the land of the dead." Bobby explained. "Those were the terms.

Sam choked on tears in his despair. "Does Katie know?"

Judging by the even guiltier expression on his brother's face Sam laughed bitterly. "Don't tell her." Dean begged.

Sam shook his head angrily on his way out the back door he talked over his shoulder. "She deserves to know, but you need to be the one tell her."

"Where are you going?" Bobby asked. Sam waved his hand in answer and Dean sighed sitting down heavily in his chair.


	7. Chapter 7

"What should I do?" Dean said into his hands. Bobby put his hands on his shoulders and squeezed them for comfort.

"It'll be hard for her to hear but you should tell her and soon." Bobby sad sadly.

"She'll hate me." Dean argued.

Bobby smacked him on the back of his head "She will not you idjit. She'll be hurt if you don't tell her."

"I should go find Sam." Dean sighed getting to his feet.

"I'll handle Sam, you take care of your sister." Dean nodded.

Bobby listened to Dean's steps fade down the hall muttering to himself. "What a mess."

Bobby hated seeing his family so upset. His heart ached because he knew no matter what he would lose a son and the other two would loose a brother. Bobby wasn't angry with Dean, he knew exactly why he did it, those boys were inseparable. And little Kate was never far behind. When she was younger she hero worshiped her brothers, especially Dean. She was the one other person they would die to protect. Bobby often wondered wether or not Dean thought about how his death would make Katie feel when he made that deal. but still Bobby could understand how his mind turned one track with Sam dead. Dean was feeling the pain that Sam and Katie would soon feel in six short months. But Dean's grief was different. He was the oldest and felt as if he had failed them, Sam and Katie. Dean also didn't get the chance to say goodbye to Sam and Sam didn't get to say goodbye to him. Bobby didn't know if Dean's death would be harder or worse.

Ah well no use crying over it, Bobby thought with a sniff.

Dean opened the door slowly peeking inside. Her shut the door behind him as quietly at possible and tip toed to the bed where Katie was sleeping. He let out a small smile and pulled the covers up over her shoulders. He brushed a few hairs lightly off of her face and kissed her forehead softly. he backed up to sit on the chair in the corner of the room. He put his hand under his chin and watched her sleep.

I can't leave her here without me, Dean thought with guilt. He knew Sam would be there for her but he couldn't help thinking that he was going to abandon her. If he hadn't made the deal he would have held on to her so tight, not wanting to lose the only family he had left. But he could never regret making the deal even though it would cost him his life. His siblings meant everything to him and he hoped he meant everything to them. he couldn't live with himself knowing he didn't try anything to save Sammy. Now here he was worrying over his baby girl and arguing with Sammy.

Katie was smart and Dean knew she wouldn't try anything she couldn't handle but today's experiment had drained her strength. Hell he wasn't even sure if her stele would work and if did what would it do?

In a month she would be heading off to Knoxville for college. He couldn't be more proud. She was like Sam that way. She was a genius as far as he was concerned. She was a pretty even mix of him and Sammy. She had Sammy's brains and heart and Dean's familial loyalty and hunting instinct. Even the way she looked she was a mix. She had dad's dark hair like Sam but she had Dean's eyes. She was short like Dean too only five foot three. She reminded Dean so much of his mom it hurt. She was the mom of the Family now, always looking out for her older brothers and keeping them out of trouble as best she could. Hers was the voice of reason. And he loved her probably more than she knew.

Katie turned over in her sleep clutched at her blanket.

_She was watching her brothers laughing with their dad. She knew it was a dream because dad was dead. They were inside the her house. She had made them all dinner and now they were sitting in the living room laughing like a normal family. Suddenly her family was gone and Castiel stood beside her._

___"Castiel." She acknowledged in surprise. "You're in my dream."_

_____"I needed to talk to you." Castiel said looking at her in a way that made her feel like she was in trouble._

_____"Okay.." She hedged._

_____"You made a stele today." He said to her with a nod._

_______She looked at him apprehensively. "Is that a bad thing?"_

_______Castiel almost smiled, "No."_

_______"Then what about it?" She asked him in confusion._

_______Now he was looking almost proud which only confused her more. "You are learning to use your power."_

_______"What power is that exactly?" She asked angrily._

_Castiel looked uncomfortable. "I am not permitted to say."_

_______She scoffed angrily, "So what are you _permitted_ to tell me?"_

_Castiel looked at her evenly, "I'm here to tell you to be careful and not to push your limits. If you had tried anything else today you would have died."_

_She raised her eyebrow, "That's it? You aren't going to explain the whole Shadowhunter thing?" _

_Castiel just looked at her emotionlessly._

_"Was Bobby right? Are you my angel daddy or something?" She asked him quietly._

_He looked down before answering his voice thicker than usual. "I am your father, yes."_

_She looked at him and said weakly, "I'm really an angel?"_

_Castiel's eyes were sad. "Yes."_

_Tears welled in her eyes, "So Sam and Dean aren't really my brothers?" _

_Castiel sighed. "They are your brothers, your mother was your mother and your father was your father. You were born again as a human. The day you fell from heaven your mother became pregnant and I dried my blood to a powder and mixed it with what she ate so that you would maintain some angel abilities."_

_She listened in stunned silence. "Why." She choked, "Why did I fall?"_

_Castiel looked in front of him, "You wanted to taste humanity and I could not convince you to stay."_

_"Is my name even Katie, because I've never heard you call me that." She asked in exasperation. _

_He looked into her eyes, "You're name was Kalliel." he said sadly._

_"Kalliel." She tasted the name on her tongue. She expected she would have felt some kind of rightness, but it didn't feel as if it was her name. _

_"I must go." Castiel said. "I will be back to see you."_

___He didn't give her anytime to respond and she found herself suddenly awake._

Her eyes snapped open. She rolled over and saw Dean looking at her.

"How do you feel?" He asked her with concern.

She thought about it stretching her limbs, "Sore and weak." She replied with a groan.

"You should eat." he said holding out her hand knowing it wasn't a suggestion. She gave him her hand and let him pull her up.

When she got downstairs with Dean, Bobby was sitting the table with the newspaper.

"Where's Sam?" She asked quietly in a tired voice. Bobby glanced at Dean who shook his head slightly.

"What?" She asked them suspiciously.

"I was just seeing if Dean knew where he was, he left an hour or two ago." Bobby lied easily.

She hmphed and settled herself down at the table. She smiled gratefully when Dean slid a cut of steak over to her.


	8. Chapter 8

Sam was frustrated, angry and desperate and was taking it out on a park bench. He kicked it savagely, tears clouding his vision. He threw himself on the ground with a sob. Dean was going to die and there was nothing he could do about it. He had driven for two hours finally pulling over in a national park. In that moment he hated everything and everyone. He hated himself for dying in the first place. He hated Dean for making that stupid deal. He hated Bobby for keeping the truth from him. Hell he even hated Kate and she didn't even do anything wrong.

"Arghhh!!" He screamed to the storm cloud filled sky. He felt so helpless and he hated that too.

Why? He thought, what did our family do that was so horrible to deserve so much loss? Katie never even got the chance to meet their mother. Then dad had died when she was only sixteen. Then she lost him, even if it was only for one night. Now she would lose Dean. They both would lose Dean. He was the one that was always there for them, he was a better father than John was. Well, John finally started to get parenting down once he had left for Stanford.

Rain began to fall, but Sam didn't have the will to move. He was fighting a losing battle. Everything he would do to save Dean would all be for nothing because no matter what he would die in six months.

Sam sobbed deep in his chest with heart wrenching despair.

Dean was never going to see their little sister grow up. Never see her get married, have kids. None of it. What if Sam found someone again, Dean would never see that either. Dean would never see his siblings truly happy ever again because any happiness they would have in the nest six months would just be masking the fear and sadness.

Sam shivered violently and pushed himself to his feet and into the car. He sat there for a moment before starting the engine and making his way back to Bobby's. Two hours later it was 10:00 at night and lights were still on in Bobby's house. Sam opened the car door and got out numbly. He made his way to the front door and opened it. He stepped into the kitchen still dripping wet from the rain. He looked up and saw Katie standing there in the doorway with her arms crossed.

"Where the hell were you?" She growled in barely controlled anger.

"I went for a drive." He said lamely.

"You went for a drive." Katie echoed angrily. "I was worried sick about you Sam! Where were you!" She yelled.

"I'm sorry." He offered.

"Your sorry?" She yelled disbelievingly. "What is going on with you?"

"Leave it be Kid." Dean said softly entering the room.

"Your kidding right?" She looked at him in shock. "He goes awol for four hours, me calling him every two minutes and you want me to let it go."

Sam stood their glaring at Dean like a wet puppy.

"It's my fault." Dean said sadly. Which left Katie reeling in surprise.

"What?" She asked in a voice hardly louder than a whisper.

Dean sighed in defeat. "Sam left because he found out that if I somehow get out of the deal," He hesitated. "Sam dies."

Her eyes got wide and they filled with tears. Tears spilled over her cheeks and she clenched her fists shaking her head. "Your lying."

Dean took a step forward, "Katie..."

She flinched away from him, "No." She squeaked.

Dean kept walking forward and wrapped his arms around her. He placed her head into his shoulder. She started to shake gasping. "No. No. No!"

Tears ran down Sam and Dean's faces as they stared at each other. Dean swept his arm behind her knees and lifted her up. He took her upstairs and laid her down in the bed. He pulled back to go downstairs but she clutched at his shirt and begged him to stay. He sighed and laid down next to her. He stroked her hair and rubbed circles in her back while she cried. Today was a long day he thought tiredly.

* * *

**Sorry this one was so short but it was a good place to stop. **


	9. Chapter 9

Nightmares plagued her that night each one ending with Dean in Hell. Some times he burned in a fiery pit others in he was sucked into a black hole. But every time he was dead. She even saw Sam, a knife in his back.

She stared at the wall with a dead expression. Her eyes were damp and her nose red. I can't save him. she kept thinking over and over again. She could feel him next to her, but she never felt more alone. She would lose Dean, and if she didn't lose him she would lose Sam. She would never be able to say she wanted one over the other.

She blinked hard, tears were no use. Crying never solved any problems but she couldn't stop them last night. The desperation that had gripped her the night before had caused a flood. Now she felt numb and cold.

Dean snorted in his sleep and it startled him awake. He turned his head around.

Katie was laying still on her side and he knew she wasn't sleeping. He sighed and reached over to touch her shoulder. She didn't respond to his touch.

"Katie..." He whispered in her ear.

She didn't say anything but continued to lay still.

"I don't know what to say." He murmured.

"Don't say anything." She said back her voice rough and cracking.

"Okay." He slid of the bed and she rolled over to look at him with red rimmed eyes.

Guilt assaulted him and his eyes grew sad.

She managed to fake and smile and sat up. Don't think about it, she repeated to herself over and over again. Just don't think about it Katie.

Dean looked at her with a confused expression, "You sure you're okay?"

"No" She answered honestly, "But someday I will be."

Dean smiled with pride in her and thought, brave little soldier.

"I'm going to get cleaned up." When he didn't she continued in a slow voice. "So get out of here."

"oh" He walked out and shut the door behind him.

The fake smile she was wearing slipped off leaving her with a tired look. She definitely was not 'okay', but like she told Dean she would be okay someday. There was just no telling when that day would be.

She showered slowly letting the hot water soothe her tired muscles. When she was done and went back into the spare room and found clean clothes waiting for her. Sam must have brought them for her.

With wet hair she pulled on the gray grey skinny jeans and faded black Van Halen T-shirt.

She padded down the hallway and stairs barefoot. When she entered the kitchen Sam, Dean and Bobby looked up from their breakfasts and Sam pushed a full plate of eggs and bacon to the empty seat.

"Thanks." SHe said sitting down. They watched her sit down in silence and she looked up with a scowl. "Stop it. I'm fine."

She stabbed at her food bitterly. Sam looked at his brother and Dean gave his signature shrug.

Bobby got up from the table and walked into the study. He came back a moment later with a rolled up kitchen towel. He held it out to her, "Here."

She frowned and set down her fork. He placed it into her hand and she unrolled it. Her stele rolled out and clinked on the table.

She smiled, "Looks good." She commented. One end of the crystal like rod was pointed like the tip of a pencil.

Dean eyed it warily, "What does that thing do?"

She grinned at him mischievously, "Wanna see?"

"Do I?" Dean questioned with a nervous laugh.

She didn't answer. She twirled the stele expertly in her right hand and held it like a pen. She closed her eyes for a moment in concentration and smiled. Opening her eyes she held the tip of the stele right above the upper part of her left arm.

She touched the tip down lightly and winced when it burned her skin. She moved it in a curved line about an inch long before looking at her brother's expressions.

They were staring at the black tattoo like mark on her arm. She drew an adjoining line from the middle of the first. From there she continued to draw parallel to the first line. In between the two curving lines she drew a circle. With one last expert flick of her wrist she drew a hook like bend connected to the edge of the circle.

Setting down her stele she smirked. "Well?"

"What in the world?" Bobby breathed staring at the black mark burned into her skin.

Dean was glaring at her arm now but she could not tell if it was in anger. She answered her eyes locked on Dean's face. "It's a rune. Each one means a different thing. Some are permanent and others fade when they have been used."

He met her eyes at the word permanent. "I don't like it." He said evenly. "I don't want you covered with black lines."

She sighed, "If its any consolation, this one just means speed and it will fade."

Sam spoke up for the first time that morning. "What do you mean fade?" She couldn't tell by his tone wether or not he was as offended by the idea as Dean.

She frowned tying to find a way to explain it. "Well, take speed for example. If I don't use speed on need to have extra speed it will stay black. The darker I draw it the longer it lasts. So if we are on a hunt and I need to run, it will make me faster until it's used up. Understand?"

Dean leaned back in his chair with a thoughtful expression and she guessed he was thinking about her safety on hunts.

"No permanent ones." He said quietly.

Katie looked to him in surprise, here we go she thought. "This one's permanent." She showed him where Castiel marked her.

"And that's different." He said in a voice that indicated it should be obvious.

She flexed her fist, "I will use whatever runes I have to, Dean."

He got up from the table leaving her with Sam and Bobby. "Fine."

She sighed, "I'll get my stuff." She said to Sam. "Let's go home."

Upstairs she shoved her things into her bag with a scowl. It wasn't Dean's fault that he didn't want her to look like a pen exploded on her. He would just have to get used to seeing her with black lines on her skin. Besides she wouldn't have them all over her face and neck. Mostly they would be hidden and the ones that won't be hidden will be battle runes, the ones that fade.

She slid on her boots with a sigh. She was going to do things the way Dean wanted them, she vowed, at least for now.

Katie wasn't sure how Sam felt about all this yet. She and Dean knew he had demon blood in him, but they still weren't sure what that would mean for them. No matter what he was still her brother and if the demon blood would do strange things to him she would be there to help.

She took the steps two at a time and came into Bobby's kitchen. She shrugged on her black leather jacket that made her look just like Dean.

"Sammy" She called sticking her head out the back door. "Where's Dean?"

Outside Sam was standing there with Dean who stuck his arms in the air as if to say, right here dummy. "Oh." She said.

She walked outside and stuck her stele in the front pocket of her jeans. Kate reached to check the gun in the waistband of her pants. "Any cases?"

Dean glanced at her with an amused smirk at her attempt to sound normal.

Sam answered her, "Yeah get your butt in the car squirt." Rolling her eyes she went back in through Bobby's back door.

"She's a good actress." Sam noted with a grin.

"She has to be." Dean walked away from Sam and into the house with a grim expression.

When Sam walked into the house he heard his sister telling Bobby goodbye and he followed Dean to the front door. Bobby shook Dean's hand then shook Sam's. "you watch out for that girl." bobby warned them and they nodded.


	10. Chapter 10

"We're not in Illinois yet." Kate pointed out later that afternoon when Dean pulled over at a camping ground.

"I know." Dean and Sam got out of the car. Sam grabbed two beers from the bag under his seat. Dean held up a hand and caught the bottle Sam tossed to him.

"Then why are we stopping?" Katie asked slowly, sticking her head out of the impala.

Sam smirked at Dean, "Waiting for Sebastian."

She scrambled out of the backseat and smacked Sam on the arm as he leaned against the hood. "And you didn't tell me, why?"

Dean laughed as Sam winced. "Because he asked us not to." Dean explained.

She looked at him for a moment with a scowl then threw her hands in the air. "Crap." She said wildly.

She shoved Sam over so she could look in the car mirror. SHe ran her fingers through her hair harshly and tried to fix her bangs quickly.

"How do I look? Fine?" Kate asked Dean.

Sam gave her a strange look and Dean laughed again. "Stop worrying you look fine."

Katie groaned in exasperation, "Why am I even asking you?"

Dean took a mock hurt expression, "And what is that supposed to mean?"

She gave him a duh look, "When's he getting here?"

Dean grinned.

"What?" She asked him exasperatedly.

A voice in her ear startled her. "Turn around."

She turned around blindingly fast.

"Whoa." He murmured before she tackled him with a scream.

"Sebastian!"

She felt him laugh and she laughed with him. She let go of him and ignored her brother's amused stares.

He held at arms length and pointed a finger at her accusingly, "_You_, never called."

She sighed with a sad look. "A lot has been going on."

He frowned as she looked away. He glanced at Sam and Dean who were staring in a tense silence.

Dean shook his head and downed the rest of his beer. "Time to go."

Sam held the seat up for sebastian to climb in. Sam let the seat fall back and walked to his sister's side where she stood staring at the trees.

"Come on squirt." He said softly guiding her with a hand on her back. She climbed in the car next to Sebastian. Kate leaned against his side and he laid his cheek on the top of her head. She pulled her stele out of her pocket and twirled between her fingers absently.

Sebastian didn't know anything that had happened since they had started hunting after her accident. She hadn't thought to call him and let him know when her mind was tied up with her gift and the ever closer reality of Hell. SHe couldn't tell him now when thinking about it caused her so much pain. Sam or Dean would have to tell him and she just hoped he wouldn't try to talk to her about it.

Sebastian sucked in his breath, "What is that?" He asked her pointing to the stele.

"My stele." She said quietly. She held it out to him to hold. "Don't touch the tip, it burns." She warned.

"And what exactly is a stele?" He asked peering at the stele closely.

"Show him your arm." Sam cut it in.

"I used that already. It's gone." Kate replied. "But I'll do another one."

She snatched the stele out of Sebastian's hand and shrugged out of her jacket. She rolled up her sleeve and next to the faint scar of the speed rune she lightly drew another dark swirling design about the size of a quarter. "Foresight." She whispered.

Sam nodded appreciatively but Sebastian still looked confused. While Katie slipped on her jacket Sam got Sebastian's attention. "We found out Kate is a Shadowhunter last week."

Sebastian looked surprised, "Angel warriors?"

Katie's head snapped up and Dean glanced back to look at him. Katie stared at him in amazement. "How did you know that?"

Sebastian seemed insulted, "I read you know."

"I didn't know you could read." Dean said seriously to a couple of amused chuckles from Sam and Kate.

"Ha ha." Sebastian retorted sarcastically. He turned to Katie who was wearing a small smile. "Did your parent talk to you?"

She looked at him impressed. "Yeah, he did. More than once."

"You never said you saw him again." Sam turned around in his seat to look at her.

"Well you weren't around for me to tell, were you?" She shot back in irritation.

Dean cut in with an even tone. "Well I was there and you didn't tell me."

She didn't reply and stared out the window.

"What did he say?" Sam asked impatiently.

She sighed, "He said that I was learning how to use my power and he said," She looked at her hands and her voice got a little deeper. "He said he was my dad."

Sam and Dean were silent and stared ahead at the road.

"But he said that Mom and Dad were my parents and you two are my brothers." She added quietly. "The day I fell from Heaven that he mixed his blood with mom's food so that I would be a Shadowhunter and not a normal human."

Dean looked pissed, "He fed mom his blood?"

"It never hurt mom, Dean." Katie said quietly.

No one said anything for a long time, when it started to get dark Katie yawned and yanked her ipod headphones from her ears. "When are we stopping?"

"Not long." Sam said looking up from the map in his lap. "There's a city coming up in a few miles where we can stay the night."

"Sweet, I'm hungry." She said and looked at Sebastian who was snoring lightly.

While the guys emptied the bags from the car Katie used a credit card with the name Katelyn Perry to pay for two rooms. Sam had managed to convince Dean into letting her and Sebastian share a room on the condition that there would be two separate beds. She smiled to herself walking back to the car with four keycards in her hand.

She handed Sam two of the cards, "Room 34."

She turned to Sebastian and took one of the bags on the floor in front of him. "And we are in 21." She said with a smile.

"Meet us at the car in 20." Sam called over his shoulder.

"Got it." She called back.

She slid the key card into the lock with a sly smile at Sebastian. They tossed their things on the couch and Katie walked over to bathroom. She turned on the water and washed her hands. Sticking her head back into the room she asked, "Which bed do you want?"

He pointed to the one on the left and she smiled. "Good." She plopped down on said bed and stared at the ceiling.

She felt the bed dip next to her as Sebastian laid down next to her. "So did your Angel say anything else?"

She rolled onto her side and propped herself up with her elbow. "Yeah he did."

He gave her a look that said go on.

"My name was Kalliel." She said softly and he gave her an interested look.

"Really? What is the Angel's name?" He asked her.

"Castiel."

"What's he like?" He asked quietly.

She frowned. "I don't really know." She said with a laugh. "I haven't spent enough time with him, he seems nice though."

Sebastian nodded absently. They lay there for a few minutes before Katie sighed and got up. "Sam and Dean will be waiting."


	11. Chapter 11

Sitting in the diner down the street from the motel Katie said, "Oops."

Just then a customer walked into the waitress who was holding a tray of drinks. The glasses went tumbling down drenching the waitress in water and soda.

Kate shook her head and took another bite out of her Cheeseburger.

"How did you know that?" Dean asked chewing his bacon burger.

She rolled her eyes as if it was obvious, "I told you the rune meant foresight."

Sam grinned, "Handy."

"I'll say." Sebastian laughed.

Katie smiled into her food. "What exactly are we up against?"

Sam looked serious. "Not quite sure. I think it's some kind of vengeful spirit in a place called the Morton House."

Sebastian looked skeptical. "Haunted house, really?"

"Then it should be easy" Dean commented his eyes on the hostess's ass.

"Man whore." Katie muttered under her breath.

"Bitches." Dean retorted referring to both her and Sam.

Sam snapped back his usual answer. "Jerk."

"You guys..." Sebastian laughed at the siblings.

"What?" The asked in unison.

Sebastian raised his eyebrows and laughed again.

The chatted happily and finished their dinners. When they got out of the car to go to their rooms Dean pointed at Sebastian threateningly. "Don't you try anything."

Katie rolled her eyes and pulled on Sebastian's arm. "Let's go." Walking away she gave Dean a back off look over her shoulder.

"She's fine Dean." Sam told him firmly.

"We should probably get to bed." Katie said with a yawn. "Knowing Sam, he will want to leave at the crack of dawn."

"Yeah." Sebastian agreed and shed his jacket.

Katie already had hers off and was unlacing her boots. "I'm going to take a shower." She grabbed her toiletry bag and went into the bathroom. She turned on the water and leaned up against the bathroom door.

Everything seems so normal, she thought. Nothing ever lasts. Behind every last bit of happiness she was feeing there was a storm of sadness, fear, anger and despair brewing. She knew these last happy moments with Dean would be the ones that would stick with her for the rest of her life. They would bring whatever amount of comfort possible when the loss would be too much to bear. She stepped slowly into the steaming water.

Even though she loved Sebastian and she knew he loved her she felt like being happy with him was unfair. She though it was unfair to Dean who would never have the chance to grow old with someone he loved. She did, and it made her feel guilty. Why does she deserve to live a full life on earth and then live an angel's life in heaven? Why did she deserve life when Dean would face death? What made her deserve anything more than him? When Dean was so good, so loyal, so caring, so loving and so young. Why did she get to have everything Dean should?

If there is a God why would he destroy someone who should never be destroyed. Why would God destroy one of the world's few true heroes?

Getting out of the shower she vowed, I will never take life for granted again. We are all living on borrowed time and no one ever knew when that time would run out.

In her pajamas she walked back into the room and smiled when she saw Sebastian laying in the bed watching tv. Kate laid down next to him and snuggled into his side. "Hi." She said quietly.

"Hi." He returned with a smile. He turned off the tv and then the light. "Goodnight" He said and kissed her lightly.

"Night." She smiled in the dark and closed her eyes.

Sleep found her quickly and she was woken by a knock on the door. It was 6 am. She groaned, "Ugh, Sam."

She stumbled out of bed and walked to the door blinking and rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. Bright sunlight assaulted her and she turned away.

"Morning sunshine." Sam stepped into the room with cheeky grin.

She grimaced and walked over to a snoring Sebastian and shoved him. "Wake up."

He groaned and threw the comforter over his face, "You suck, Sam." A muffled voice said in irritation.

Sam just laughed and handed Kate a bag of doughnuts and coffee.

She peeked in the bag greedily and sat down at the table. "I will eat your doughnuts if you don't get up." She threatened Sebastian who threw off the covers and called, "I'm up."

Twenty minutes later they were on the road again about twelve hours away from their destination with no traffic and no stops. The miles and the hours flew by and then they were in the city of Rushville, Illinois. They booked another two rooms and went back to Sam and Dean's to form a game plan. They waited until it was about ten o'clock at night leave the motel.

The Morton House was on the outside edge of town and had been deserted for over twenty years. Every so often some idiot would spend the night at the house and every time they never made it back.

They were pulling up the the house when Dean slowed down, "Sammy, shine your flashlight over there I think I saw someone."

Sam pulled out his flashlight and we all looked at the bushes. Dean grunted, "Huh, could of sworn I saw someone."

He kept driving down the street so he didn't park in front of the house. Everyone went around to the trunk. Katie grabbed her gun and slipped it in the waistband of her black jeans. She took off her jacket and rolled up both her sleeves. With her stele she marked her left arm with runes for stealth, speed, strength and balance. She grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled the design of the foresight rune and the runes for extraordinary sight and hearing. She handed the paper to Sam and handed him her stele, "Draw these on my arm."

He looked at her and then at the paper. He put the stele to her skin and started to draw. She winced, "Too hard."

"Sorry." He muttered. When he was done he handed her back the stele and she put on her jacket.

Dean looked at everyone and nodded. They followed him to the house.

Katie frowned she could hear people talking. "What the hell?" She murmured as they walked up the porch steps and Dean put his hand on the door to open it.

"What?" Dean asked.

She looked at him listening hard. "I think someone's here."

Dean scowled and pushed open the door he had his flashlight in one hand and his gun in the other.

Before Dean walked any closer to the room where two of the voices were coming from Katie groaned.

"You have got to be kidding me." She said in exasperation and nodded to Dean to keep going. She raised her gun and walked next to him. They went through the doorway and Dean and Sebastian held their flashlights up to blind the to men wearing dorky electronic gear.

Katie called in a voice that made her sound more threatening, "Don't move this is the police" The four of them walked into the room with serious faces.

The heavier of the two men looked at them in suspicion, "I know you guys. Well, I know three of you."

"No you don't" Sam said back with a confused expression.

Katie cut in impatiently, "Sam, why do you think I said you have got to be kidding me? This is one of the idiots from that hunt in Texas."

Sam and Dean shared an annoyed glance, "Fuck" Dean cursed.

Dean strode forward angrily and gripped the heavier man by the shirt and slammed him against the wall. "I could kill you right now, uh.. uh..." Dean stuttered searching for a name.

"Ed?" The man offered.

Dean almost growled, "I could kill you right now Ed for almost getting my family killed."

The other man whimpered in terror and Katie cast him a disgusted glance. "Dean, let the nerd go" She said with a sigh.

Sam stepped forward as Dean released Ed reluctantly. He had his serious face on again. "You need to get your little friends and get the hell out of here."

"No way man!" Ed shouted, "We got here first. We could get documented proof of ghosts."

Katie stepped forward and pointed her gun at Ed's face, "We don't care. And I'm not kidding, you need to leave."

Ed had his hands in the air and his eyes crossed trying to stare at the gun. "You won't shoot." He stuttered. "You're just a kid."

Katie gritted her teeth in irritation, "Dean, can I please shoot him?"

"If he doesn't listen." Dean suggested.

She gave Ed a pointed look and nodded at him to move. Ed sighed in defeat and slumped to the table in the middle of the room. He picked up a walkie-talkie, "Everyone back to base now."

More than one affirmative came back on the line. Katie crossed her arms over her chest and Sebastian put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed. Slowly the other three amateur ghost hunters came into the room with confused expressions as to why four hunters with guns had joined the group.

dean took charge with his gun in hand. "I know you guys think you going to capture a ghost on camera but you need to leave, now."

The five nerds with cameras all started arguing at once. Shouting things like; no way, I'm not leaving and you leave!

"Quiet." Dean growled. They didn't acknowledge that he spoke. He pointed his gun in the air and fired, startling them into silence.

Katie sighed and stepped forward, "Guys listen, two of you remember us from last year and you two know that us being here means things could get real dangerous real soon." She looked at Ed and one of the other guys. "We have guns for a reason and we aren't afraid to use them."

The one girl in the group pointed at her, "You're just a kid what do you know?" One of the guys nodded in agreement.

Sebastian bristled with anger.

Katie looked at the girl in disgust, "Honey, I've seen more horrible things in eighteen years than you will see your entire life. So if I were you I'd listen when we say you need to go."

At that moment the front door and all the windows slammed shut. Sam strode forward and shook the lock and then tried to kick it in, but nothing budged. "Dammit." He cursed throwing his arm down.

He looked at Dean, "No one's leaving now."


	12. Chapter 12

Katie looked at Sam with a desperate expression. She strode past him an pulled out her stele that was glowing brightly in the darkness. She tested the doorknob and when it didn't turn she scribbled an unlocking rune on the lock.

"What is she doing?" Ed whispered in awe. Sam Dean and Sebastian ignored him.

She waited a second for the runes to cool before she tried to turn the knob quickly. It didn't budge and she cursed in irritation.

"I can't open it." She looked at Dean evenly.

"Damn." He muttered and shook his head, "Well I guess you losers have to stay."

The "Ghostfacers" grinned at each other in triumph.

Sebastian spoke for the first time since they had went inside, "You can stay, but you will stay out of our way and don't touch anything."

The four Ghostfacers mumbled their assent. Katie cut in with a confused expression, "Where is the other guy?"

They looked around and she squinted her eyes in concentration. Her eyes widened and she pulled out her gun and bolted out of the room and headed for the stairs. Sebastian and her brothers took off after her shotgun filled with salt rounds in Sam's hand. "Kate!" Sebastian yelled after her.

Once she hit the top step a bloodcurdling scream tore through the house. She sprinted down the hall and skidded around the corner into the room the scream came from. There was a running camera on the ground but other than that the room was empty. The source of the voice was no where to be found.

Dean came panting into the doorway behind her and looked around, searching. The other two came up behind them breathing heavily. She frowned and her eyes narrowed looking each corner of the room. She took a couple steps further into the room and turned around. Sebastian looked extremely confused, "But.. where did he go?"

Katie shook her head at a loss. Dean picked up the camera and examined it, he shrugged and handed it to Sam.

Sam played back the tape that showed Alan dragged away by an unseen force.

The four hunters trudged downstairs and were met with four hysterical geeks with nightvision googles.

"Where's Corbett?"

"What's going on?"

"What happened?"

"Is he okay?"

Dean held up his hands in an attempt to slow the onslaught of questions. In his usual sarcastic tone of voice Dean broke the news, "Look I'm sorry but your friend is gone."

"Dean." Katie hissed, "You could be a bit more sensitive."

Dean shrugged unconcernedly.

The three boys that were left stood there in shock. The girl, Maggie, raised a shaking hand to her mouth, "He's dead?"

"The spirit took him." Dean said again.

"He's gone." Katie said, "I can feel it."

Sam cut in earnestly, "We still need to look for him, and this ghost."

Everyone nodded in agreement and split up into groups. Kenny went with Dean, Maggie with Kate, Harry with Sebastian and Ed with Sam. Each of the nerds had a guard with a gun and hunting experience.

Kate ignored her charge's whining and incessant chattering and searched through the dusty house. She entered the room Corbett disappeared in and touched the walls. She poked at the walls with her stele searching for weak spots.

Maggie came close beside her as she crouched in the corner of the room. "What's the glowing thing?"

"It's a stele." She replied shortly.

"But what is it?" She persisted.

I just want her to shut up already Kate thought tiredly. This hunt was already turning into a fiasco. The last thing any of us need is to be back on the FBI's radar.

She sighed, "It's like a.. a" She searched for the words, "Something I use to write in the angel's language."

The annoying girl perked up, "Angels!?"

"Yes." Katie said sharply. "Now shush."

"Ah!!!" A scream came from downstairs and Kate grabbed the girls arm. She sprinted for the door with the girl following close behind.

"Sam? Dean? Sebastian?" Katie called in panic running down the stairs. Dean and Sebastian answered but Sam didn't.

"Sammy!" Katie and Dean yelled at the same time. Sebastian quieted the other four, one of which was hyperventilating and stuttering something like, it took him.

Kate listened closely and could hear a faint reply come from the a room to the left. She took off in the direction of the voice with Dean and Sebastian trailing behind, guns drawn. They entered an empty room and Kate called out for Sam again. They were close enough that Dean and Sebastian could hear Sam's reply. They scrambled to look for cracks in the walls. Dean pulled aside a filing cabinet and a small door was revealed. "Guys." He pointed to the door and He and Sebastian pried it open. Katie had the shotgun aimed into the small opening. Dean held his hand out for the gun and she gave it to him he crawled through the opening and the other two followed behind. inside the room Sam was tied to a chair and Dean furiously cutting at the bindings.

"Sammy." Kate sighed. He looked at her with a grimace. His eyes widened, "Behind you!" She whirled quickly and lashed out with her stele. The ghost disintegrated.

Huh, she thought, I guess a stele works like iron and salt.

Sam stood slowly with a grimace, "lets burn it and go."

They laughed in agreement.

Eight people watched bones burn at two in the morning. Katie stared into the flames and thought of Hell.

Dean... What I am going to do? she wondered.


	13. Chapter 13

It had been two weeks since the disaster at the Morton House and Kate was waiting for Dean to blow up.

He knew she didn't want to go to college but they had never talked about it since he found out and he still wanted her to go. It was going to be a fight and she was bracing herself for when he would walk through the door of the motel room. Sebastian had gone back to his dad yesterday so she was alone with Sam. He gave her a knowing look at her pacing.

"He won't be that mad." Sam said.

She groaned, "Thats what I'm afraid of, I'd rather he be mad than disappointed."

Sam didn't say anything.

Dean came through the door with a bag of take out food. He didn't say a word and avoided Kate's eyes. He laid the food out and San and Kate came over to eat with him. Dinner was eaten in a tense silence.

Kate sat down her empty bowl slowly and glanced almost shyly at Dean who was staring at her. She looked down guiltily.

"Your not going." Dean said quietly. It was morea statement than a question.

She answered in a small voice. "No."

He sighed and looked at his hands, "is there anything I can say to make you change your mind?"

She looked up in surprise. "No." Kate answered honestly.

He looked at her sadly, "ok then."

She wanted to cry at his resignation, "It's not that I don't want to go, Dean. I do."

"Then what is it?" He asked fearing that he already knew the answer.

She hesitated and looked at Sam for support. "I'm not missing any minute of the time you have left."

Dean swallowed heavily and replied, his voice husky. "I'm sorry."

A tear slid down her cheek and she wiped it away hastily, "Don't be."

She stood up and came around the table to hug him tightly.

After a moment he brushed her off, "okay, okay. No more chick flick moments."

That night they laid out newspapers and opened up the laptop to search for a case. It was two am and Kate was asleep in her chair before Sam put together a couple of deaths into a case. He nodded at Dean, "Demonic possession."

Dean glanced at his sleeping sister, "How many?"

Sam checked the list in his hand, "I think It's one demon but its killed eight people in the last six months and made it look like suicide."

Dean sighed heavily, "Get some sleep Sam."

Sam rose tiredly from his chair and went into the bedroom where he dumped himself onto the bed.

Dean looked at his hands until Sam was out of the room and then raised his eyes to Kate. Her eyes were moving under her eyelids and he knew she was probably dreaming. He felt guilty that because he was going to Hell she was skipping out on a good education.

He only hoped that next year she could go to school. He would be gone at the end of December, that would give her more than six months to get over his death. But that wasn't going to happen. She had been broken up for most of the year after dad and died. And she was much closer to Dean than John. She would take his death hard. She would have Sam to lean on and Sam would have her. A Winchesters biggest weakness is family, and their family was dying off fast. First it was mom, then Dad now him.

As much as he wanted to keep Sam and Kate safe he knew they would never lead normal lives. Sam had demon blood and Kate had angel. But the hunting instinct was deeper than that, having been ingrained in them from a young age. They lived for the thrill of the hunt. They rejoiced for those they saved and mourned for the ones they couldn't. It was a hard life, but it was their life.

He gathered his sister in his arms and carried her to the bed and pulled the covers up to her neck. She smiled in her sleep and it made Dean want to laugh.

He stared at the ceiling, he couldn't sleep. Ugh, he thought and pulled the covers over his head. Next thing he knew he was asleep.

"Are we there yet?" Kate asked impatiently from the back seat at about 6 pm.

"No." Dean sighed tiredly.

She tapped her fingers on the glass. "Well can I drive then?" She asked hopefully.

Sam laughed, "Like Dean would let _you_ drive his car."

She smacked the back of his head, "Hey I'v driven it before."

Sam turned his head around to look at her. "Yeah when it was still Dad's"

She scowled and Dean pulled over. He opened the door and pulled the seat forward to let her out. She grinned and hoped out. Dean crawled in the backseat. Sam sputtered indignantly, "So you let her drive but not me?"

Dean shrugged. "Yup sasquatch."

Sam glared at his older brother and Dean stuck his tongue out tauntingly. "Children." Katie rolled her eyes and pulled out onto the road.

"Be nice to my car." Dean warned seriously.

She just shook her head in exasperation.

Dean was dozing in the back seat a half hour later.

Katie glanced at Sam thoughtfully, "I was thinking.."

Sam looked up at the sound of her voice "That I need to get a seraph blade."

"How?" He asked, curious.

She looked over at him, "Take a knife and use my stele on it, piece of cake."

He raised his eyebrows thoughtfully. "Ok We'll try it when we get a motel room. Could come in useful on this job."

"When are we stopping?" She asked him tiredly.

Sam checked the map and glanced at an upcoming sign. "We've got about an hour to the town we're staying the night in."

"You have got to be kidding me." Dean cut in from the backseat startling his siblings who did not realize he was awake.

"Don't do that." Katie said weakly.

He chuckled in amusement and leaned forward so he was between Sam and Kate. "What was that about using your stele?" Dean asked innocently.

She frowned at him then smiled, "I'm going to draw some runes on a knife so we can use them to kill demons."

"That could e useful." He admitted grudgingly. it wasn't that he didn't like that she was a Shadowhunter, it just scared him. He didn't want anything else to happen to her and he feared that the runes and all the glowing weapons would draw unwanted attention to her.

SHe gave him as look as if to say 'duh'. Dean started shifting in his seat and she sighed heavily. "You want your car back don't you?" She asked as Sam laughed.

"Well, yeah." He said with an antsy tone.

She pulled over on the shoulder of the highway and threw the car into park. She got out of the car and Dean was crawling out of the backseat before she could hold up the seat for him. She gave him an exasperated look. He reached out to muss her hair and she dodged it neatly with a grin. He put his hand on her head as she slid in the backseat.

Dean settled into his seat with a satisfied grin and adjusted the mirrors. Katie yawned, "I haven't driven for that long since..." She frowned trying to remember then she winced, "Since Dad used to let me drive."

Sam glanced at Dean who had a wistful expression on his face.

Katie knew she was pushing it, talking about dad but she couldn't help it. "I wish he were still here."

Dean's mouth closed into a hard line but she continued with a thoughtful expression. "Although he would have probably shipped me off in box to Knoxville by now."

Against his will Dean cracked a smile in agreement. Sam laughed at the truthfulness of the statement.

Sam looked thoughtful, "I wonder how he would have reacted to the angel blood revelation."

She frowned wondering what John's reaction would have been. Hell she didn't know wether he'd be pissed or accepting. She did know that he still would have loved her no matter what. She would always be his baby girl.

Dean slowed down and turned around sharply to look her in the eye. "He never would have cared. He always loved you." He said in a firm voice. "Never think anything else."

She smiled slightly at her brother. "I know, Dean. I know."

He turned back around slowly and stepped on the gas.

Dean pulled into town and up to a family run motel. He got out of the car leaned against the side. Sam got out and Dean said "Your turn."

Everytime they had to get a motel room the would alternate who had to go pay for the rooms, not that they actually paid for them. When you had the kind of job they did you never got paid. So credit card scams had become a necessity of life. They paid for Katie's house by getting cash back from everything they bought. But all the scams were worth it, they loved their lives even though they lost so much.


	14. Chapter 14

Katie grasped the knife in her left hand and dipped it in holy water. She took her stele and started to scribble the runes for angelic power, grace and strength on one side of the blade. On the other she wrote the angel name Remiel in Enochian. After a few seconds the knife began to glow brighter and brighter. It flashed a bright golden light and then it dimmed. The blade had taken on the same crystal like appearance of her stele and glowed where the light hit it. It reflected a rainbow light the same way a prism would in sunlight. She Whispered the name Remiel outloud and it returned to its original appearance.

She handed it to Dean who examined it for a moment before handed it to Sam. Sam looked at it closely and was about to attempt to activate when she stopped him.

"Don't! It'll burn you!"

He frowned at her, "Why?"

She looked almost ashamed, "The Demon blood, If you were to invoke the name of the angel with an angel blade in your hand the demon blood would burn in your veins."

He pursed his lips unhappily and handed the knife back to her, she twisted it expertly in her hand. "You know, I doubt Dean could even activate it." SHe said challengingly in an attempt to pull Sam from his brooding.

He gave her a confident smirk, "Oh yeah?" He snatched the blade from her hand, "Watch me!"

He gripped the hilt tightly, "Remiel!"

Nothing happened and he frowned in frustration. Sam cracked a smile in amusement. "Remiel!" He shouted again and the blade flared dimly.

"I will get it!" He growled determined.

Kate reached over and took the knife from his hand, "Ok tough guy."

Dean shrugged disgruntled, "Can we go eat, I'm starving."

"You're always starving." Kate pointed out and pulled out another knife from her bag.

She dipped it into the holy water and scribbled them same runes on the second knife but instead of the name Remiel she named it Cassiel. It glowed the same as the last time and she tossed it to Sam. She slid Remiel into her boot and Dean opened the door of the motel room.

"Can we go now?" He asked impatiently.

Sam and Kate laughed and followed him outside.

Katie was curled up in the backseat of the Impala half asleep with her ipod in her ears when Dean stopped the car. She opened her eyes confusedly and looked around. "Are we there?"

Dean got out of the car and Sam replied. "Yeah." He looked around for a moment and checked a piece of paper in his lap, "Lets go to work."

She groaned and crawled out of the backseat smoothing her tangled hair. She followed her brothers into a sports bar, the clock on the wall read 3 pm.

The bar got noticeably quieter when they walked in the door with their leather jackets and hidden guns. The Winchesters could make an intimidating group sometimes, and this was one of this times. After a second the bar grew loud again as the people adjusted to their presence. They walked up to the bar and sat down. The bar tender came over with a rag on his shoulder and a purposefully neutral expression on his face. "what can I do for you?"

Dean glanced at Kate who nodded, "Three beers please." He said with a charming smile.

The bartender eyed Kate speculatively, "You got it." He stepped away and came back with three bottles that he set in front of Dean.

the bartender turned to walk down the bar and Sam stopped him, "Sir, Agent Sam Moore FBI." Sam flashed the fake badge and pointed at Dean. "My partner Agent Dean Hanna and our Probie Kate Callen." Kate and Dean showed their badges.

The man pursed his lips warily and then sighed finding nothing to suspect that the ID's were fake. "What do you want to know?"

Dean took a swig from his beer and motioned with his hand for kate to ask the questions.

She obliged in a voice that concealed her true age, "We are here investigating the ring of recent suicides, can you tell us anything about the last victim, Jenny Wallas? We have heard that she frequented this establishment."

Sam was very impressed with her lying ability, he knew she could lie convincingly enough to strangers, but he almost believed her now. He wondered what kinds of things she was keeping from Dean and himself with a straight faced lie. he shook the thought away as the bartender considered her question.

He sighed reluctantly, "Jen was a good girl." His eyes filled with a small amount of tears, "She never would have killed herself, never."

Sam half glanced at Dean "Did anything strange happen before she died?" Sam asked in a calm voice.

The man frowned and slid the towel off of his shoulder to wipe a glass clean with. "Strange?"

"Yeah, anything weird? Like flickering lights, noises... smell of sulfur?" Dean cut in with a serious expression.

The man leaned over the bar with a confused expression, "What the Hell kind of question is that?"

"Sir, if you could please answer." Katie cut in patiently with a sweet smile, "I assure you, it's important to our investigation."

The man sighed, "Yeah, when she came into the bar that night she stunk." he leaned over with a intense expression, "She smelled just like rotten eggs, sulfur."

The siblings glanced at each other before downing what remained of their drinks.

"Thank you so much for your time." Katie said leaning forward to shake the man's hand before the left. As soon as her skin touched his he frowned. she followed her brother out the door feeling eyes staring holes into the back of her head.

"There was something weird about that guy." Kate said with a shiver once she had climbed into the backseat.

Dean turned around to frown at her, "No there wasn't."

She didn't answer, instead she looked back at the bar as they drove away. The man hand changed when she touched his hand, something was up, she thought.

Back in the motel room they would be staying in for the remainder of the hunt they were assigning tasks.

"I'm going to go visit the coroner for the autopsy reports." Dean was saying as Katie tied his tie for him. Sam was already dressed in his suit and Kate was in dress pants with heels and a blouse.

"Sam you go with Kate to the houses that are still empty and look around." Dean instructed clipping his 'FBI issued weapon' to his belt.

Kate shrugged on her dress jacket and pulled her hair out from the collar. "Dean we'll be faster if we split up." She had just marked herself with fresh runes and put her stele into the homemade holster that clipped to her belt next to her gun.

Dean gave her a disbelieving look and she sighed exasperatedly, "Oh come on, I can handle myself and besides its still daytime and I look like a fed no one is going to hassle me."

"She's right Dean." Sam said with a serious expression.

The Winchesters all looked at each other seriously and no one moved. They certainly looked like FBI, Kate could even pass for a young lawyer. They all had guns clipped to their belts and FBI ids in the pockets.

Dean sighed, "Fine." He waved his hand dismissively, "Go, before I change my mind."

Kate grinned at Sam and walked to the door.

"Got your phone?" Sam asked.

Outside the door she called back, "Yeah, I'll call if I need you."

Kate used a lockpic to open the door of Jenny Wallas's apartment. She switched on the light and went inside shutting the door behind her. She searched through the kitchen and found nothing. She was crouched down examining the sill of a low window when she sensed someone behind her. She moved her hand back slowly to reach for her gun.

"I wouldn't" A man's voice said.

She held her hands in the air and turned around slowly the man was holding a hunting rifle. She could have easily overpowered the young mand but she didn't want to have to hurt anyone unnecessarily.

"Who are you?" He asked angrily, he looked like he had been crying and she assumed he was the boyfriend.

"Put down your weapon." She said calmly, "I'm FBI."

He eyed her warily.

"You can get my ID its hanging on my belt." She said moving her left arm higher to show him. He took a cautious step forward and then another. He kept his eyes on her and reached for her badge. "See." She said. "Can you lower your weapon please?"

He lowered it slightly and held the badge in one hand, "How do I know you're really FBI?"

She sighed lowering her arms slightly. She pulled a business card and handed it to him slowly. "Call the second number and you can talk to my section chief."

He gave her back her badge and pulled out a cell phone and dialed the number.

Bobby sighed wearily, one of the agency phones was ringing again. Which one is it? he thought sourly, Ah FBI. "FBI DC office." Bobby answered the phone with a professional voice.

"Yes she is one of mine." Bobby said gruffly.

The voice on the other end offered an explanation, "Oh just wanted to make sure did you?" Bobby mocked angrily, "Now leave agent Callen alone to do her job." He hung up the phone with a slam.

He chuckled, "Boy, that girl will be the death of me."

The man shut the phone with a surprised expression and set down the gun. Kate visibly relaxed and chuckled inwardly at Bobby.


	15. Chapter 15

"Sorry" the man muttered.

Katie scowled and turned away. She touched the window sill and smelled the yellow powder on her fingertips. She grimaced and nodded absently, definitely sulfur. "You threatened a Federal agent, you're lucky I haven't decided to arrest you."

He gulped nervously, "What are you doing here?"

Kate wiped her fingertips on the inside of her jacket, "Investigating the suicide of Jenny Wallas."

He still looked confused but he seemed to understand. "Jen."

"Were you involved with her?" Kate asked softly.

Tears pooled in his eyes, "I was going to ask her to marry me."

She shook her head sympathetically, "My condolences."

He nodded at her with a sniff.

She leaned forward, "Would you mind if I asked you some questions?" She asked gently.

he waved his hand in answer and sat down heavily on the sofa.

"Did you," She scratched her head nervously, "Did you notice anything different about Jenny in the time before she died?"

He frowned and sighed, "She was harsh."

"What do you mean sir?" Kate shifted her belt to better hide her stele.

He closed his eyes with a shake of the head, "I mean she was meaner than I'd ever seen her, it wasn't like her."

Kate made a mental note, "Did anything unusual happen?"

He gave her a blank look. "I just told you."

She bit her lip, "I mean did you have anything flickering lights, strange noises smell any sulfur?" She asked slowly unsure of his reaction.

He cast her a fearful look. "Just the smell. I still can't get it out of my head, she smelt like rotten eggs." He frowned. "It was weird."

She reached forward to put her hand on his shoulder. She opened her mouth to say something then shook her head, "Sorry what was your name?"

He chuckled reluctantly,"My name is Kevin."

"kevin." She looked at him evenly, "Look Kevin, I know your confused. And I know that you should trust your instincts."

He glanced at her with a confused expression.

"The other people my partners and I have spoken to are adamant that Jenny didn't kill herself." Kate blinked, "And I think they might be right."

Tears dripped down Kevin's face but he didn't say anything.

"If I find any news you'll be the first to know." Kate said quietly and walked out of the room.

Kate got into the drivers seat of the rental car and pulled out her cell phone. She dialed Dean's number. He answered on the second ring. "God, I hate talking to the boyfriends."

Dean laughed, "what did he say?"

"Well we definitely have a demon in town." She sighed, "I'm going to go back to that bar, there was something off about the bartender."

"Be careful." He warned. "I'm wrapping it up here I'll meet you there."

"You got it." She said pulling the phone away from her ear.

Dean's voice shouted through the receiver and she put it back against her ear, "You wait for me before going in ya hear?"

"Yeah, yeah." She laughed hanging up and starting the car.

"I miss my car." She whimpered. She hated driving rental cars, they had no power. Unlike the impala and her 1980 camero.

She pulled into a parking space in front of the bar. There were only a few other cars in lot. Kate flipped open the center consul where she had stored some holy water and seraph blades. She slid a knife into each of her sleeves and the holy water into her pocket. She shook her head at her own stupidity but she wasn't about to wait for Sam and Dean.

She opened the door and got out of the car. "Here we go." She muttered and walked inside the bar.

It was eerily quiet. Only a handful of people sitting at tables in the corners of the room. The bartender watched her warily as she approached the counter. The eyes of everyone in the bar were on her and apprehension tingled on her skin. She reached the bar and noticed out of the corners of her eyes that the people sitting had risen to their feet.

The bartender pulled the rag from his shoulder and set it on the counter with a grin. "You shouldn't have come here" he shook his head in mock sadness, "Shadowhunter."

Kate was as taut as a wire. Her keen senses observing everything in the room and not enjoy the odds. Eight to one didn't seem good. Kate sighed grimly and shifted into a defensive position. She loosened the knives in her sleeves and let the blades fall into her waiting palms. She flipped both of the blades in her hands to grip them more tightly. All the demons but the bartender charged. Kate whirled in place to face the oncoming charge better. She feinted to the right and lashed out with her left arm, slashing the throat of the demon nearest her.

She kicked out with her left leg pushing a demon back into another. A blow from the right landed on her shoulder and ducked down, her arm sweeping down in a quick arc. A demon fell and KAte lurched to her feet. A demon grabbed her from behind. With a yell Kate kicked out in front of her and used another demon to flip herself backwards and out of the demon's grasp.

Kate, panting, took a few steps backward and surveyed the remaining five demons who were quickly closing in on her. She cursed inwardly wishing she had drawn runes on herself and waited for her brothers. She flipped her hair out of her eyes and waited for one of the demons to get close enough. "Who's next?" She growled.

The demon's just stared at her, their black eyes narrowed in dislike.

"What?" She said cockily, "Big Bad demons afraid of the little Angel?"

The demon's hissed and crept closer, circling, trying to keep her surrounded. Kate didn't wait for them to close in, she ducked to the right and grabbed a demon by the arm turning her around and stabbing through the back. She heaved the body off into another demon with a grunt.

She yelled as a demon yanked on her hair. The other three demons rushed at her as the doors burst open. Sam and Dean charged in guns in hand firing at random. The three that charged at Kate were distracted enough that she was able to get away from the other demon. All this time the bartender was still watching from behind the counter.

Kate tossed one seraph blade to Dean who dispatched two demons while Kate handled the others.

"Nice work Winchesters." The bartender said appreciatively. Kate didn't give him the chance to leave his host's body before she threw her knife. It embedded itself right in the demon's chest. He looked at it in confusion and fell to the ground, out of sight.

Katie's chest heaved as she panted. Sam sighed and Dean shook his head half in exasperation, half in anger. "How many times do I have to tell you to wait!"

She laughed breathlessly and walked around the counter to retrieve her blade. With the rag the bartender left on the counter she wiped the blood off the glowing crystal. "Until it sinks in?" She took her other knife back from him, "Maybe a thousand."


	16. Chapter 16

"Ahh."Kate hissed suddenly and turned over her left arm. The sleeve of her only dress suit was sliced open and bloody. She winced and pulled off her blazer gingerly. "Great." She groaned. The left sleeve was spotted with blood and the back had a smear of blood in a handprint shape.

She looked at the skin of her left arm where a small gash cut into the skin. It was a tiny cut worth nothing more than a band-aid but it burned. The blood under her skin felt as if it were on fire and it was spreading both down into her fingers and up into her shoulder. "What the Hell?" She hissed in pain.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked in a concerned voice, pausing from pouring gasoline all over the floorboards.

"Nothing it's just," She gasped, "Ahh, my arm." She held it away from her side tensely, her fingers shaking from the effort. She could feel sweat building on the back of her neck.

Dean came up from behind her and grabbed her upper arm and she groaned in pain. "What are you complaining about?" He asked. He looked closely at her arm, "What this?" He pointed in disbelief, "This is a paper cut."

She felt the burning heat consume her chest and she gasped for air. As soon as the heat hit her heart she swayed into Dean. "Oh God." Kate moaned and tears formed in eyes. Dean caught her with a confused glance at Sam who started to splash the gas as quickly as he could.

"Sam!" Dean called over his shoulder as he swept his sister into his arms. "Finish up here, I'm getting her back to the motel."

"Yeah." Sam agreed throwing the empty can into the corner and picking up the next.

Dean pushed the door open, "You call me as soon as your done." Sam nodded.

He set Kate in the passenger seat of the impala with a frown. She couldn't think clearly, all she could feel was pain.

She didn't even notice when the car stopped and Dean carried her inside. He used a damp wash cloth to wipe the sweat off her face and left it on her forehead. Frowning in worry he took his phone and went outside to call Sam.

"_Kalliel." a voice called to her._

_She didn't answer but her unconscious self could here the voice._

_"Kalliel" It called again, "Answer me daughter."_

_She forced herself to form a weak reply. "Yes?"_

_"You must listen to me." The voice she recognized as Castiel's said urgently. "You have demon sickness."_

_"What?" She asked. In her unconscious sate she could feel the pain but it was distant, almost as if her mind was shielding her from the fire._

_"The cut on your arm," He said impatiently, "Demon blood got inside. Whatever you do don't try to heal yourself, it will only make the pain worse."_

_"Cas!" She yelled as she felt him start to pull away, "Then what am I supposed to do?"_

_"Wait for it to pass." He said calmly and she felt him fade away. _

She could feel the fire raging again with a vengeance. She pushed the damp cloth off her face and squinted around the room. Dean was nowhere to be found. Kate groaned and closed her eyes and was asleep again.

A cold wet rag was dabbing at her face and neck when she woke up. "What the hell is this?" Sam's voice muttered.

"Demon sickness." She groaned not opening her eyes.

A drop of cold water landed on her eyelid when Sam jerked his wrist in surprise. His breath exited his lungs with a loud sigh of relief. "God, you're awake."

She cracked open an eye only to shut it hastily as the light from the lamp made her head throb. "Wish I wasn't" She groaned wryly.

Sam chuckled and she heard the door open and shut quietly. "She's awake." Sam said quietly to someone she assumed was Dean.

"Good, another hour and I would have called an ambulance. Saves me money." He said in a gruff voice but she could tell he was relieved.

"Your hilarious." She groaned. She tried again to let her eyes adjust to the light and was rewarded with a stab of pain in her head. "Lights, Sam."

The heat from the light disappeared and she slowly opened her eyes again. "Remind me to stay away from demon blood."

"That's what did this?" Dean asked her.

She nodded slightly. "The Angel blood reacted to it like a virus."

Sam frowned at the new information. "How do we make you get better?"

"Runes?" Dean asked before she could answer Sam.

Wincing she said. "Nothing, Cas said to let it run its course." Her eyes widened as she felt her head grow dizzy. "Ugh Sam." She choked.

"Yeah?"

She held her hand to her mouth. "I think I need a bucket." Her stomach rolled as a wave of nausea hit.

"Oh." Sam jumped up and ran into the bathroom.

Dean grimaced, "Yugh."

Sam handed her the bucket just in time as she heaved into it.

"That's nasty." Dean muttered. Kate raised her head to glare at him, her skin shining with a sheen of sweat.

Sam handed her a washcloth to wipe her face and took one of the rubberbands off of her wrist. He motioned for her to turn her head and he pulled her hair into a messy ponytail. Suddenly she snatched the bucket back again and dry heaved. She whimpered and glanced desperately at her brother. "I'm sorry squirt." He murmured.

"It'll pass." She whispered. "it has to pass."

Sam nodded and went over to her bag and pulled out a pair of sleep shorts and a tank top. "These fine?"

She nodded and sat up slowly she glanced pointedly at her brothers. Getting the hint Dean grabbed Sam by the arm and they both went outside.

After she changed she laid back down, Sam poked his head in the door. "You decent."

"Yeah" She said back

He came back in followed by Dean.

"I'm going to try to sleep Sam." She said and walked over and kissed her forehead.

"Get some rest."

When she woke up it was morning and Sam and Dean were already sifting through newspapers and news reports. She made a grunting noise in the back of her throat. Dean's head snapped up and he grinned, "Still feel like shit?"

She made a face at him and sat up cautiously. "I feel pretty good."

"Good." Dean smiled. "I wanna get out of here before the cops come knocking."

She nodded understandingly and threw off the covers. She stood slowly, testing her stomach. Satisfied that she was fine Kate walked to Dean and looked over his shoulder at the papers in his hands. "Anything good?"

Sam snorted, "By good you mean death and carnage?"

"Yeah." She admitted matter-a-factly.

Shaking his head he answered her question. "In Minnesota six bodies have been found with the hearts missing, cops are thinking a sadistic serial killer."

She narrowed her eyes, "*TOD's match with the lunar cycle?"

"Yeah, two for each night before and after the full moon." He handed her the stack of papers in his hand. She sifted through them as he talked. "It's targeting couples. Now these newspapers say the deaths happened three weeks ago and nothing has happened since." He pointed to catch her attention. "Now get this, the same MO has been happening every few months for the last three years. Local Leos just called in the BAU* to help them catch the 'heart breaker'." he put air quotes around the name.

She pursed her lips thoughtfully, "Sounds pretty cut and dry to me." She shrugged her shoulders. "We take our time getting there then we start trying to find the son of a bitch."

"You make it sound fun." Dean said with a surprised tone.

She frowned, "Don't get me wrong, it really sucks that we have to kill someone who is completely normal most of the month, but the beast inside them is killing people." She looked at them with wide eyes. "Our job is to save people to protect them, which means we some times have to kill. No one ever said being a hunter was easy."

Sam nodded unhappily and Dean just stared at the wall.

"If anybody should be opposed to killing people its me," Kate said. "I'm the one whose part angel."

Trying to break the tension in the room Dean clapped his hands together, "Who wants breakfast."

Sam and Kate both grinned and raised their hands.

Dean laughed at them, "Get dressed kid, and make it quick I'm starved."

* * *

**I admit this Chapter is not some of my best work, it took me forever to get through it.**

**Sorry it's been so long! I just finished a travel ball season so I should be posting chapters a lot faster now! I'll try to get another one up tomorrow!**

*** TOD's = time of death**

*** BAU= Is a unit of the FBI that specializes with serial killers or anything with a profile. **


	17. Chapter 17

"Ugh, I miss my car." Katie whined to Sam. They were sitting in a rental car watching the house of one of the potential werewolves.

Sam laughed, "I don't even have a car."

"That's what you get for running away." Kate pointed out. John got her the car to start fixing it up when she turned 15. When John and Dean were on a hunt without her she would stop by Bobby's after school and work on it. When Dean finally let her join them on the road she had stowed the car in Bobby's garage.

"I didn't run 'away' until I was your age. " Sam argued, "You got the car at 15."

Katie looked wistful, "I got the house because you left, Dad gave me the car so he could continue his crusade to gank yellow eyes." She swallowed, "I'd give both of those things up to have known him like you and Dean did."

Sam shook his head , "We didn't know him, Kate." He took her hand. "Not any more than you did. We just got to deal with his drill sergeantness more often." Sam said with a reminiscent laugh. "You and Dean are the ones who got to see him as a loving father."

Katie looked at her hand so small in Sam's, "I guess your right."

_Every rose has it's thorn_

_Just like every night-_

Kate flipped open her phone before the music could keep playing.

"Poison? Really?" Sam asked skeptically.

"Shut up." She hissed before placing the phone to her ear. "Hey Seb."

"Oh I get it." Sam said with a smirk.

She smacked at him while he laughed at her embarrassed expression. "Could you repeat that Sam is distracting me."

"Sorry, we can't be much help. We are currently tracking werewolves." She said apologetically. "I can call Bobby for you though."

Kate frowned in concern. "You sure? Sounds like you could use a hand."

"You don't need hunting help at all do you?" She questioned with a grin.

"You are such a liar!" She laughed, "You miss me."

Her eyes softened as she listened to him, "Well I miss you too."

He said something else and she laughed, "Thanksgiving is next weekend... I'm having Bobby and the Harvells over at my place for dinner. You and your dad are welcome to stop by." She offered with a hopeful expression.

"Good! I can't wait." She said happily. "Alright see you then."

She hung up the phone with a faint smile.

"Aww. Katie's got a date." Sam sang teasingly.

She punched him once then froze, her eyes widening. "Uh Sam?"

He followed the line of her gaze. "Shit!" He threw open the door of the car and pulled out his gun. Kate followed his lead and did the same. They ran across the lawn hoping over the fence to the backyard. They could see the beast clinging to the back wall of the yard. It was snarling in their direction, claws twitching threateningly. Sam fired once and hit the creature in the shoulder. It howled in pain and fell from the wall. It shuffled away from them quickly and the siblings fired at the same time, one of the bullets hitting the heart. They walked over to the dying animal cautiously guns still raised.

The creature was beginning to shift back into human form. It was choking on blood and gasping for air. Kate knelt down next to it and took the man's hand. He stared up at her with eyes full of pain and questions. She looked back at him sadly, "I'm sorry." She murmured. She held his hand until he was dead.

She and Sam had to hop over the back wall and through the next yard. They called Dean to come pick them up, thankful for the fake credit cards they'd used on the rental car.

"Poor bastard." Dean commented when they told him what had happened.

Sam and Kate agreed. "Well who wants pie?" Dean asked.

Kate shook her head. "I think we should get out of town first, pie later."

Dean pouted, "Fine." He turned and stalked out of the motel room.

Kate glanced at Sam and they both rolled their eyes and followed.

"Dean..." Kate said warningly, "No! We are not stopping here!" Kate swatted at Dean's shoulder from the backseat Sunday morning.

"I want pie!" Dean whined the impala slowing down.

Kate rolled her eyes, "We're on our way home for Thanksgiving! I'm baking pie!" She said exasperatedly, "If we keep driving now I will make a pie for just you in any flavor you want."

The car sped up noticeably and Sam laughed, "Dude you are so addicted!"

By monday night they made it back into Tennessee and Kate was dying to be back in her own bed. "Almost home." She sighed.

"Yeah," Dean said and rubbed at his eyes. "It'll be nice to get some down time."

Kate was excited to be able to spend a Holiday with Sam since he'd been at college for four of the last five years. She could still remember how good it felt to see him again after all that time.

_Dean had called her a couple of weeks after Dad disappeared and he knew she'd be pissed if he didn't take her with him to go get Sam. They broke into the window of Sam's house on campus. Kate hung behind Dean as just strolled through the apartment without turning on the lights. Sam had come out of nowhere and attacked Dean, thinking he was a thief. They tussled a bit until Dean pinned Sam down laughing, "Easy Tiger." She chose that moment to flip on the lights._

_"Dean? Kate? You scared the hell outta me."_

_Dean had laughed "That's because you're out of practice." At that comment Sam flipped them over so he had Dean pinned. _

_Kate rolled her eyes, "Enough _children_ we can spar later."_

_What the hell are you guys doing here?" Sam asked as he hugged her. _

_"Well I was looking for a beer!" Dean replied cheekily. _

_"What the Hell are you guys doing here?" Sam asked again almost angrily this time._

_"Relax, We have to talk." Dean said leaning against the counter. Kate had crossed her arms with a serious expression._

_"Uh, _The Phone!"

_Kate scoffed from the corner and Dean countered, "If I'd called, would you have picked up?"_

_"Sam?" Jess asked rubbing her eyes and squinting at the light._

"_Jess, hey. This is Dean and this is Kate." He gestured to them each._

_"You're brother and sister?" Jess smiled in recognition._

_"Yeah." He grinned uncomfortably, "Guys this is my girlfriend Jess."_

_Dean put on his I'm hitting on you face, "I love the smurfs."_

_"That's enough." Kate sighed from her spot in the corner. "It's nice to finally meet you Jess, Sam's told me a lot."_

_"What'd I say?" Dean asked indignantly._

_Kate pushed off the wall and poked him in the chest, "The smurfs Dean? Really!" She pushed him with the finger she had on his chest. "Stop hitting on her!"_

_"I-Uh-Wha-?" Dean spluttered like he was offended._

_"You just got told off by a 16 year old, how's it feel?" Sam taunted._

_Dean stuck his tongue out, "Seriously now, we need your help."_

And the rest was history. Sam got suckered into searching for Dad, Jess was killed and Kate got dumped back at her place to finish high school.

Her smiled faded at the thought of everything that had happened since that night. Her thoughts were interrupted by Dean pulling the Impala into the driveway. Dean yawned and opened his door. Kate tossed him her keys and he opened the front door letting them all in. She turned down the hallway and stopped halfway down. "Hey, one of you has to drop me off at Bobby's to pick up my car in the morning. Unless you want me to take the Impala grocery shopping."

"I'll do it." Sam offered knowing Dean wouldn't want to wake up early the next day.

"Kay." She went inside her room and stuck her head out of the door. "Night guys."


	18. Chapter 18

Katie was up early the next morning dusting the entire house, cleaning the floors and windows. By ten thirty she started the vacuuming, much to Deans displeasure. Every little bit of cleaning she did now she knew would have to be touched up Thursday morning since her brothers had the tendency to track dirt all the way through the house. Once the vacuuming was finished she hopped in and out the shower to get cleaned up. Dressed and ready she knocked on Sam's door at about 11:15.

He opened the door and let her in, the desk in the corner had fresh newspapers strewn about and his laptop sat in the middle of the mess. She pointed at it, "Couldn't resist could you?"

With a sheepish smile he shrugged, "Force of habit."

"Well come on then," She pushed his tall frame towards the door. "Lets get to Bobby's."

he laughed, "Alright, alright."

They pulled up to Singer Salvage fifteen minutes later, the dust kicked up from the Impala's wheels hid the house from view. Sam shut off the engine and they could here Bobby clomping down the porch steps. Out of the car Kate went to Bobby to give him a hug and he handed her a pair of car keys.

She laughed, "How did you know?"

He shrugged, "Ya love that car."

She grinned at him and turned to walk the other direction towards the garage.

"Hey Bobby." Sam greeted with a nod.

Bobby squinted his eyes against the glare of the sun off the windshield. "Dean sleepin'?"

Sam nodded. "Kate's excited."

"She should be." Bobby said gruffly, "It's been years since we actually got together for holiday's."

They walked inside together and Sam frowned. "I think she's trying to make it the best possible." He swiped his hand across his forehead. "For Dean." He added.

Shaking his head as he sat down Bobby sighed, "That boy better realize how much she does for him."

The growl of an engine got louder before cutting off and a few seconds later the front door opened and shut with a clang. Kate came into the hallway and found them sitting in the study. "Thanks for taking care of her Bobby."

He nodded in acknowledgement.

She pushed the strap of her bag up her shoulder, "I'm off! I have _a lot _of shopping to do today." She leaned forward to kiss Sam's forehead and wave to Bobby. She turned and walked outside. Down the porch steps she stroked the hood of a gunmetal gray 1975 Camero before getting inside. She spent hours at the supermarket outside town getting all the ingredients she needed. She even called Dean to se what kind of pie he wanted, Banana Cream. She had a long list of dishes to make during the next three days. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, corn ring, salad, and three different types of pies. As she pushed two full carts out of the store she was beginning to think she was in over her head.

By the time she got home it was after 4 and she was already exhausted. Walking through the front door she yelled, "Help me bring in the groceries!"

Her brothers grumbled having to get up from their seats. "Geez kid! Did you buy the whole damn store?" Dean called from outside.

She chuckled and went back outside to bring in more. When all the bags were covering the table and the counters, she and Sam started to put things away.

"Over doing it a bit?" He asked.

She laughed, "You hunters eat too much!" Holding up her fingers she counted. "It's going to be me, you, Dean, Bobby, Seb, Jeremy, Ellen and Jo. That's eight and five of them big men! But yeah I might have gone a little overboard." She explained with a laugh.

Shutting the door of the fridge Sam stuffed some plastic bags into the recycle bin. "Believe it or not, I can cook if and when you need some help."

She smiled gratefully, "Well for starters you can rip up bread for the stuffing."

"At least it's easy." He muttered. He grabbed two loaves of bread and a cookie sheet. He set it on the table and sat down to work. "why aren't you making Dean help?"

She scoffed, "He's useless in the kitchen!"

Sam cracked a grin and continued ripping the bread.

They chatted while they worked for about two hours. By that time Sam ripped all the bread, and boiled and mashed the potatoes. Kate had made all the preserves and mixes for the pies, and made the pie crust from scratch. Sighing she dumped herself on the couch next to Dean who was channel surfing. "I had a long day."

Laughing he sat the remote of the arm of the couch. "I noticed."

Laying there with her head on her brothers lap she fell asleep.

Tuesday came and went quickly, Katie's day filled with cooking and cleaning. It was around three, Thursday afternoon and she was taking the Turkey out of the oven when the doorbell rang. "Dean! Get the door!" She shouted down the hall. She untied her apron and brushed a few strands of hair out of her face. Hearing the sound of voices in the entryway she came out of the kitchen. Bobby was standing there with Jeremy, Sebastian's dad. Jeremy spotted her and came over to give her a bear hug. "It's been too long!"

She laughed in agreement as her looked her over.

"Wow! Look at you!" He commented.

Smiling she asked, "Where's Sebastian?"

"Oh he's at Bobby's, he'll be by in about an hour. Always on time for food." Jeremy joked in his usual way. He reminded her a lot of John, Bobby too. He was a very family oriented man, in his fifties with dark hair that seemed to be going grey. And a kind face that when hunting didn't look so kind. His green eyes sparkled in the same way his son's did.

"Very, Sebastian." She agreed. "Well don't just chat in the entryway, come on in. Beer's in the fridge, snacks on the table."

Closing the door behind them she watched as they walked straight into the kitchen. "Wow, you do all this yourself?" Jer asked.

She shook her head modestly, "Sam helped."

"I barely did anything." Sam said coming in the screen door from the backyard.

Katie didn't say anything, only shrugged. She glanced at Dean who was leaning against he counter sipping a beer. "You know when Ellen and Jo are getting in town?"

"Nope." he said popping the 'p'.

She nodded and looked around the room for a moment, "Well, why don't you boys find something to do." She suggested.


	19. Chapter 19

**Ahh I'm bad at keeping promises! I said this would be out weeks ago! I apologize that it's so short and so late! I'll try to get the next one out asap, But for now, enjoy!

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Sebastian was already at the house by the time that Ellen and Jo showed up around four fifteen. Kate had managed to herd all five boys into the living room to watch whatever was on the TV. Despite the history between their fathers, Jo and Kate were very close. Jo was only a year or two older than Kate but she had maturity to bridge the gap and more. Part of the reason the two got along so well was because of the short supply of female hunters. Even though Kate was a far more experienced hunter they could understand each other well. "Hey guys!" Kate called sticking her head out the kitchen door, "Time to eat!"

Seb and Dean were the first to bound up and snatch up plates. After everyone had full plates they decide to forgoe the dining room and brought the food out into the living room to eat on the couches. Ellen chatted with Katie and Jo as they ate, laughing occasionally at the men, who couldn't be bothered to speak while they shoveled down seconds and thirds. When Dean set his empty plate down with a grunt Katie laughed, "Good thing I made enough food for an army."

He smirked and settled back into his armchair. "Sebastian ate a damn good chunk too." Jo added.

Kate smiled at him affectionately and he grinned back. "I'm just thankful the turkey wasn't dry." He teased.

She threw her shoe at him. "hey!"

Dean groaned, "Please tell me we aren't doing the 'I'm thankful for... blah blah blah' thing."

"We're not." Kate sighed, "But I do have to say I'm glad we got everyone here today."

Jo nodded and Sam said, "What do you mean we? You did all the work."

"Tasty work." Bobby added.

Everyone laughed and Sam got up and collected plates, effectively giving the signal that everyone was free to do as they pleased. Sebastian and his dad both got up and headed into the garage where a beat up pool table was housed. Ellen and Jo talked quietly and Katie silently watched her brother.

His eyes were as heavy as they had been everyday until the incident with Yellow Eyes. He had a slight smile on his face but she could see the sadness and the exhaustion in the set of his mouth. He dipped his head and titled it to the side. He caught her gaze with that smirk he wore as a defense mechanism. She nodded her head towards the door and he sighed. They stood up and she followed him outside. He led them to their spot in the backyard behind the workshop where the she would take things apart and put them back together again just to see how they worked. Behind the garage they kept a porch swing that was so rusted it no longer rocked. They sat down next to each other silently, and they could here the sounds of chatter from inside the house. Neither one spoke and the nervous silence made her cringe.

Breaking first she said his name.

He bowed his head and sighed, "You're going to make me talk about this aren't you?"

"Yes" She whispered, "But I wish I didn't have to."

"I know kid, me too." He leaned back and cast his eyes to the stars. "I did what I had to do Kate, I hope you know that."

Her eyebrows came together in a frown. "I understand, I only feel like we were forced to choose between brothers, and you chose for us."

"Katie Bean," He said quietly with an agonized expression, "There was no choosing, You and Sam, you're all I've got. It was my job to protect him, and you, and I failed. Now I have to pay for that."

"You are such an idiot!" She snapped, "You think that this a punishment for not protecting us?" Her voice broke and tears fell onto her cheeks, "None of this is your fault!" She pointed at the house. "Everyone in there, is here for you, they came because they love you. And everyone in there knows that this not your fault, why can't you see that? We all care about you and we all want to spend as much time with you as we can. None of us are ready to say goodbye because we know that you don't deserve this. And maybe if you did deserve it, it would be different but you don't."

He closed his eyes and opened them again. "I don't want to go to Hell Kate, if thats what you think."

She stayed quiet waiting for him to say more.

"I have to go wether we like it or not."

She shook her head, "No you don't! Let me talk to Cas, we'll figure something out. We'll-"

"No! If you mess with the deal Sam dies and If anyone has to die it's going to be me." Dean said firmly. "besides," He added with an attempt at humor, "You've always needed Sam much more than me."

"That's not true and you know it." Katie said not laughing, "I need you both."

Saying no more they both looked up and watched the sky until Sam called them inside.

"You'll be okay." Sebastian told her inside, holding her close. It was one of the many things she loved about him, he never tried to comfort her with lies only told her the truth, and the truth was she would be okay, someday.


	20. Chapter 20

**Ok I know that things in this episode do not go with the Cannon timeline, but I wanted to work in Bad Day at Black Rock just a little bit! Sorry this chapter was so late! Hope you enjoy.**

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Christmas was coming far sooner than any of them liked. The clock was ticking and they could all hear it, all the time. Dean had less than a month left and Kate was scrambling to find a way out of the deal. She had Bobby, Sebastian, Jeremy, Ellen and Jo out of the field, and searching through everything to find a way. Katie's heart was breaking because even with all of it she didn't think it would be enough to save both of her brothers. Hope was fading fast and still they no leads on Lilith. Kate was nearing the breaking point and things weren't going to get any easier.

She slammed her fist on the table. "Dammit!" With her elbows on the table she put her face in her hands. She sat there for a few seconds before sighing and lifting her head. The motel room was empty, Sam and Dean had taken the impala down the street to get dinner so she was alone. Alone and desperate for a solution. She glanced at the dresser and saw the keys to the rental car sitting there. She jumped out of her seat snatching the keys and her jacket.

The car started up with a barely audible growl, she hated it. She loved the deep rumble of classic cars, and she wanted that noise to distract her from the turmoil inside her brain. God, what am I going to do, she thought. "Hey dad, this is would be a real good time for some advice." She said hopefully into the air. After a few seconds she sighed, "Yeah that's what I thought."

"What did you think?" Castiel asked curiously from the passenger seat.

"Gah!" She jumped in her seat. She looked at him for a moment and shook her head, "Uh, nothing."

His head titled to the side he looked at her, "You called?"

She scoffed, "Yeah I called! I've been calling for weeks! You decide to answer now? When time is running out?"

The angel's always emotionless face held just a hint of sadness, "I have not answered because I cannot give you what you seek."

"Then why bother showing up now! If all your going to do is tell me my brother is worse than dead, leave!" She shouted tears forming in her eyes. She pulled the car off to the side of the rode and glared at him.

"I came because you needed me to." He said a slight frown on his face. "I needed to make sure that whatever happens in the coming days that you will keep faith."

She closed her eyes and shook her head. "How can you ask me to keep faith when God is killing my brother and sending him to hell."

"God works in-" He began.

"Don't you dare finish that sentence." She said her voice angry and dangerous.

Cas sighed, "Kalli, you were once an angel, you were created on faith." He looked away from her, "Dean will be alright, where ever he goes, you must trust me."

She looked at him evenly and said, "I'm not sure I can." She put her hands back on the wheel and looked ahead. "I think you should go."

He went with a blank expression.

Katie clenched her teeth in an effort to stop the tears that were threatening to spill. She shook her head and shoved the car into drive and headed back to the motel. When she got back into the parking lot the impala was sitting next to an empty space and she winced. She shut the car off and got out. The door to the motel room opened before she could slid the key into the lock. Dean stood in the doorway with and angry scowl and shoved a metal flask in her face.

"Come on Dean Holy water!" She said incredulously.

His eyes widened as if to say 'and?', "Drink up, missy."

She scoffed, "Like a Demon is going to possess a Nephilim Warrior."

"Well if your not a Demon drink the damn water Kate!" Dean snapped.

"Fine." She griped, "You dont have to be a jackass." She took a swig and shoved it back at him and walked through the door. He cuffed her lightly on the back on her head and followed her inside. "Man whore." She muttered.

"Where were you?" Sam asked as soon as he saw her.

Her expression tightened and she didn't answer.

Dean frowned, "Where were you?"

"I went for a drive, sorry I didn't leave a note." She said and flopped onto the bed.

Dean made a face and crossed his arms, "You went for a drive, why?"

"Because I wanted to!" She snapped at him, "What's with the third degree?"

He leaned forward and narrowed his eyes as he studied her flustered expression. He leaned back with a huff. "The third degree is 'cause your lying."

She didn't reply to his accusation and Sam jumped in. "What'd you do?"

She pursed her lips and crossed her arms like a petulant child, "I talked to Cas alright!"

Sam looked down nervously and Dean's face froze, "You did what?"

"See!" She exclaimed pointing at them both and getting to her feet, "That is exactly why I didn't say anything!" Neither brother said anything so she continued, "I don't see why it's such a problem that I asked Cas for help. I mean he's an angel for crying outloud."

"You know damn well why!" Dean growled, "You do anything to screw with the deal and Sam dies! Is that what you want?" Her lips twitched and she looked down. "Is. That. What. You. Want!" He said again sharply.

"No! it's not what I want!" She shouted back, tears flying from her eyes as she shook her head. "Are you happy now, Dean! Huh?"

He stared back at her in silence his expression giving nothing away. After a moment he stood up and lifted his jacket from the back of the chair before walking to the door. "I'm going out." He said as he shut the door behind him. It closed with a bang and a tense silence followed the outburst.

After a few seconds past a choked sob forced it's way out of Kate's throat. She threw herself into Sam's arms and cried, loudly. He held her close and murmured words of comfort that didn't do any good. Sam lifted her up and sat down on the sofa dragging her with him.

She didn't know how long she had been laying there, she didn't even remember falling asleep. Sam had his arms hanging loosely around her and he was snoring. She frowned remembering a noise had woken her. She looked around and saw her phone skidding in a circle on the table from being set to vibrate. She gingerly extricated herself from her brothers arms and reached for it. She snapped it open, "What?" She asked tiredly.

"Hello to you too." Sebastian's voice came from the other end of the line sounding hurt.

Katie sighed and stood up, she tiptoed to the door and went outside. "I'm sorry Seb, I'm having a shitty day." She said quietly.

"That doesn't surprise me," He said, "You did find a way to get rid of the bad luck right?"

As unhappy as she was that wrung a small smile out onto her face, "Yeah we did, Sam's fine. But before we managed to destroy the damn thing he; got hot coffee poured on his crotch, did a face plant in the parking lot, got tangled up in a knot of cords and tripped, lost his shoe in a sewage grate, knocked him self out and got himself tied up." She chuckled, "Even though it was scary as hell at the time, it was pretty hilarious."

Sebastian laughed, "Well I'm glad things turned out alright." His voice went from warm to grim, "I do have some bad news."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "What is it?"

"We've got nothing," He said sadly, "We even captured the crossroads demon and tortured her for information. There's nothing we can do."

Kate didn't have the energy to answer, hopeless tears fell from her eyes and she shook her head.

Sebastian was silent for more than a minute waiting for her to speak, "Kit Kat?" He questioned, "You still there?"

She sighed, "We don't have anything either," She looked up at the sky, dark blue in the fading light. "I talked to Cas and all he would give me is that wherever Dean goes he'll be okay."

Sebastian was quiet and then spoke in a careful voice, "Well, that's good isn't it?"

"No, no it's not. It mean's I might never see Dean again and that is not good." She argued.

Sebastian had no reply.

"Look Seb, I'll call you tomorrow okay?" She whispered.

A sigh came from the other line, "Okay... I love you." he said softly and hung up before she could say anything else.

She held the phone to her ear shocked. Against her will a smile formed on her lips and she whispered, "I love you too." She let the phone drop and with one last look at the twilight sky she went inside.


	21. Chapter 21

Christmas morning Kate was startled awake by Dean belting out the lyrics to Jingle Bells loudly and offkey.

"Ugh." She grunted and sat up at the same time Sam did.

"What are you doing?" Sam asked in an annoyed tone.

Dean continued, for lack of a better word, singing, switching over to We Wish You a Merry Christmas, and mimed 'I can't hear you'.

Katie flung her pillow at him and he caught it deftly.

"What is it with you guys?" Dean asked. "It's Christmas!"

Groaning Kate grumbled as she got out of bed, "You haven't been this excited for anything in years."

Sam asked "and?"

"Aw come on!" Dean whined, "Where's your Christmas spirit?"

Kate and Sam shook their heads, "No more songs." She said and shut herself in the bathroom.

An hour late the three Winchesters were donned in their FBI gear and were off to interview the victim's families. Dean dropped Sam and Kate off together at the firist victim's house and went on himself to the second.

"Ready?" Sam asked glancing at Kate out of the corner of his eye.

"Not even close." She responded as her leaned forward and rang the bell.

A blonde woman answered the door curiously gazing at the two people waiting on her doorstep. "Can I help you?"

"Mrs. Walsh?" Kate asked and the woman nodded. "My name is Agent Kate Callen this is my Partner Sam Moore we're with the FBI. Can we come in?"

The Woman's eyes widened and she nodded opening the door wider to let them inside.

She shut the door behind them and ushered the fake agents into her living room. "Are you here about Mike? Because I already told the police everything I know."

"Yes." Sam said. "We are, and we know you spoke to the police but it's best if we hear it from you and not from the local leos."

Mrs. Walsh nodded. "Yes of course."

"Ma'am, you said That your husband was dragged out of bed?" Kate asked seriously.

The woman had tears in her eyes when she answered. "Yes. One minute we were both sleeping and the next he's being dragged down the stairs screaming."

The siblings glanced at each other. Sam put his hand lightly on the woman's shoulder. "Why don't we sit down."

Kate casually walked out the room. She briefly glanced at the wreath above the fireplace before crouching down and pulling a rag from her pocket. She nudged aside a brunt piece of wood revealing a partial footprint. She groaned, "You have got to be kidding me." She muttered and stood up. She went back to the living room and Sam slowly stood. "Mrs. Walsh, thank you for your time. We will call you if we find any new information."

Once they were outside Sam shook his head sadly, "What do you think?"

"You are not going to believe me but there was a freaking footprint in the damn fireplace." Kate said.

"Are you saying you think _Santa Clause _did this?" Sam asked disbelievingly.

"I don't know what to think." Kate said as they walked the sidewalk to the park they were meeting Dean. "All I know is there was a footprint toe facing out in all the ashes."

Sam sighed shaking his head disbelievingly, "Call Dean let him know."

"Evil Santa?" Dean asked incredulously as he took off his jacket and then his tie. Kate glanced up from the motel's computer screen, she had accidently broken Sam's laptop last month by pouring soda on it.

"Actually Santa's evil brother." She said seriously.

He shook his head pinched the bridge of his nose. "Alright, well how do we gank this SOB."

"Well suposedly he smells like candy and walks with a limp." Sam said while he lacced up his boots. "Let's just find him first."

"Well that narrows it down." Dean muttered.

Kate spoke up, "I saw a 'Santa's workshop' just outside town we should start there."

After standing outside 'Santa's workshop' for a half hour they found a suspect and now at ten o'clock at night they were sitting in the impala outside the guy's house.

"Sam why are you the boy that hates Christmas?" Dean asked exasperatedly. Sam didn't answer so Dean continued with a glance to the backseat at Kate. "I mean we had some good times growing up."

Kate snorted, "Dean I remember three Christmas's where dad was actually there. And on two of those occasions he was passed out drunk on the couch." She shrugged sadly."You tried to give us a good Holiday every year Dean, you did. Dad just never had the same consideration."

Dean frowned but said no more.

After a few minutes of tense silence Sam cracked. "I just can't think about Christmas."

"Okay our christmas's weren't so great growing up. I admit it." he shrugged, "But this is my last one so..." he trailed off.

"Which is exactly why we can't." Kate whispered. "I can't pretend to have Christmas cheer knowing I will never spend another Christmas with my brother."

"Then make my last one count." Dean argued.

"It's not that sim-" Sam cut off his head tilting to the side like a dog as he listened closely.

Dean instantly tensed, "Did you hear that?" not waiting for and answer they both threw themselves out of the car.

"Guys! It's not-!" She tried to shout after them. "Ah... Oh well." She climbed out of the car and leaned up against the hood with her arms crossed over her chest. She smirked when her brothers trudged down the steps of the mobile home with bewildered expressions.

"I tried to tell you." She said when they were closer.

Dean scowled. "We had to sing Christmas carols!"

Kate rolled her eyes. "You were happy enough to sing this morning."

"How do you always know everything?" Sam grumbled.

"Perks of being a shadowhunter." She said with a smirk.

Dean opened the car door and she climbed into the back. "So I'm guessing this is not our evil Santa?"

"I don't know Man." Sam shook his head. "Maybe we got the wrong monster."

"What do all these people have in common?" Dean asked.

A light bulb went off in Kate's head. She sighed, "I am such an idiot!"

"Well I knew that already, care to tell me why you think so?" Dean snarked.

"Every house had the same wreath." She elaborated.

Dean stared at her. "that's it?"

"Yeah." She grinned, "We can visit the wreath store in the morning."

**Flashback**

_Twelve year old Dean Winchester, arms loaded with grocery bags, turned the key into the lock and opened the front door of a ratty motel room. Little Kate was playing with a toy car on the rug and Sam threw down the comic in his hand when he saw his older brother. "Thought you went out."_

_"Yeah to get you dinner." Dean said with a smile. He chucked a bag of funyuns at his brother and kneeled down in front of Kate who squealed and hugged him. He opened up a small box of cereal and put it on the floor. "Eat up." He messed up her hair and stood. He walked around the couch and put the rest of the stuff on his bed and started to take off his jacket. Sam followed him and sat down across from him. _

_"I know why you keep a gun under your pillow." he said quietly._

_Dean bit the inside of his cheek and lifted up his pillow to see if said gun was still there. "No you don't. Stay out of my stuff." He said seriously._

_"And I know why we lay salt down everywhere we go." Sam said smugly._

_"No you don't. Shut up." Dean snapped back. _

_Sam turned over on his bed and pulled a book out from being squished under the mattress. He tossed it on the nightstand like an I told you so. _

_Dean stood up, "Where'd you get that, that's dads. He's gonna kick your ass for reading that."_

_Sam stared up at him, "Are monsters real?"_

_"No mosters!" Kate shrieked from the living room and came hurtling into Dean's leg._

_"Now look what you did." Dean growled. He sank to his knees and grabbed his sister's hands. "No monsters Beanie, go eat your cereal." She waddled back into the living room. "Your crazy." Dean smirked at Sam._

_"Tell me." Sam replied._

_Dean's smirk faded and he looked away. He chewed on his bottom lip for a second before shaking his head. "I swear if you ever tell dad I told you any of this I will end you."_

_"Promise."_

_Dean set his soda on the nightstand and sat back down. Her leaned forward with a slight smile, his eyes lighting up with a bit of excitement. "First thing you have to know is we have the coolest dad in the world. He's a superhero."_

_"He is?" Sam frowned confused._

_"Yeah. Monsters are real. Dad fights them. He's fighting them right now." Dean answered._

_"But dad said the monsters under my bed weren't real." Sam said with a scared expression. _

_"It's cuz he'd already checked under there." Dean shrugged, "but yeah they're real. Almost everything's real." Dean glanced over at Kate who was already staring at him._

_"Is santa real?" Sam asked. _

_ "Santa!" Kate yelled happily careening into Sam with a giggle. _

_Dean huffed on a laugh. "Of course Santa's real!" He stood and swooped little Kate into his arms. "Huh, Beanie?" He tickled her sides and she screamed with laughter._

_"yes!" She giggled as he let her go. _

_Dean glanced up at Sam and mouthed the word 'no' with a shake of his head. _

_"If monsters are real," Sam started slowly in a fearful voice. "Then they could get us, they could get me!"_

_"Dad's not gonna let them get you." Dean assured him and glanced down to make sure Kate wasn't listening. _

_"But what if they get him?"_

_Dean snorted, "They aren't gonna get dad." He glanced away, "Dad's like, the best."_

_"I read in dad's book that they got mom." Sam said._

_Dean blew out a breath slowly. "It's complicated Sam."_

_Sam started shaking his head, "If they got mom then they can get dad. And if they get dad then they can get us."_

_Dean sighed and switched to sitting nest to Sam. "It's not like that. Kay? Dad's fine, we're fine. Trust me."_

_Sam looked away._

_"You okay?" Dean asked._

_"Yeah." Sam replied shaking his head._

_Dean smiled, "And Dad's gonna be here for Christmas, just like he always is."_

_"I just wanna go to sleep okay?" Sam asked with teary eyes. _

_Dean nodded, "Yeah okay." Sam laid down and started to cry, "It'll all be better when you wake up. You'll see. I promise."_

**End Flashback.**

"Are you sure this is the right house?" Kate asked her eyebrow raised skeptically as she stared at the house they were currently standing in front of.

Sam nodded, "It's the right house."

Shaking her head she started walking forward, "Alright."

"Well that was a complete waste of time." Dean said as they walked down the porch steps.

"No," Kate and Sam said at the same time, "I sensed power." Kate said, "From both of them. I don't think this is Santa's little brother."

"No I agree," Sam said, "Meadowsweet is heavy in pagan lore."

"Call Bobby." Dean said as he started the car, "Find out how to kill them."

"Now you're sure evergreen stakes will kill these guys?" Dean asked as he shaved at piece of wood with his knife.

Kate nodded and looked over at Sam, "That what Bobby said." She shrugged, "He also said if that fails that angels can pretty much kill whatever the hell they want, so we should be good."

"Are you done yet?" Sam asked his brother, "I'm pretty sure we won't need twenty."

"No, I'm not done." Dean replied in an annoyed tone.

Kate handed Sam her stele and turned her back to him, "An iritatze, agility and speed please." She told him pulling aside the curtain of her hair so her upper back was clear. Sam stood and began to lightly draw the patterns into her skin without having to check the paper for reference. Dean glanced over and scowled he was still pissed that she had marked herself with her first two permanent runes for control with weapons and balance the week before. Sam finished and handed her back the stele and she marked herself up with the other usual battle runes; foresight, strength, protection, good sight and hearing.

She shrugged on her leather jacket and turned to Dean, "Are you ready now?"

Dean scowled but stuffed the finished stakes into a duffle bag, "Yes, I'm ready"

They quietly walked up the porch steps and Kate leaned over to pick the lock with her stele. Black scorched lines dug into the wood around the handle and it clicked open. She tiptoed inside followed by her brothers. Dean pointed at the clear covered couch, "See?" He shook his head disgustedly, "Plastic."

They looked around at the Christmas wonderland they had stepped into with disbelieving expressions.

"hey Dean." Sam called and he pointed at a closed door in the kitchen. Kate and DEan immediately walked over and Kate picked the lock easily. The stalked downstairs with their falshlights held in front of them. Kate pulled a small rough stone out of her pocket and squeezed it, the room flooded with streams of lights coming from between her fingertips. The celler was filled with ripped and bloody pieces of flesh and articles of clothing.

Sam walked over to and poked a red leather bag hanging from hooks and chains. The bag made a muffled noise and started shaking, the thing inside the bag was alive, and it was human.

The old woman Grabbed Sam by the back of his jacket and pinned him to a wall by his throat. Dean and Kate turned simultaneously and the man threw Dean against a pillar knocking him out. "Gosh I wish you kids hadn't come down here." She said in her sickly sweet voice.

"Let him go." Kate growled, her witchlight stone put away and two seraph blades in her hands. The woman slammed Sam's head agaisnt the wall and knocked him out as well, they turned on her.

"Dear me," The woman said and her husband finished, "Didn't anyone ever teach you to respect your elders."

"I do respect my elders." Kate snapped.

The woman raised her eyebrows and they each took a step forward and Kate held her ground, "Sweetheart, we are most definitely your elders."

Kate grinned, "I do believe Angels are older than Pagan gods."

The woman and her husband shared surprised looks, "My, my, We've found a baby Angel."

Kate glared.

"Look, she doesnt even have her wings back yet." They shared a grin and Charged, they were both cut by Kate's bladed but were able to overpower her, because for all their faults they were smarter than Demons to attack one at a time.

Kate woke up last, she was bound by thick chains, other than her brothers who were tied to back to back chairs by ropes. "You okay sis?" Dean asked quietly.

She groaned, "Peachy."

"How'd they get the drop on you?" Sam asked and she snorted.

"They may be idiot Pagan gods but they're not quite as dumb as demons."

"Oh!" The bitches happy voice came from the doorway, "And here we thought you three lazybones would sleep through all the fun."

"And miss all this," Dean said sarcastically, "Naw, we're partiers."

"You're hunters is what you are." The man seemed to need to point out. "And the little angel on your shoulders."

"Yeah and you're Pagan god," Dean agreed, "Now why don't we just call it even and go our separate ways." He said hopefully.

"What so you can bring back more hunters and kill us?" He argued and laughed, "I don't think so."

"Well maybe you should have thought about that before you went snacking on humans then-"

"Oh now don't get all wet." The man said using some expression the siblings had never heard before.

"Oh, we used to take over a hundred tributes a year." The woman said gleefully. "And that's a fact. Now what do we take what? Two or three." She said this while laying hand towels over her brother's laps.

"Hardy boys here make five." The man said pointing his pipe at them, "And little miss heaven over there will be better than ten."

"You touch my sister and I'll kill you." Dean growled, shifting against his bonds.

"You mister better show us a little respect." The man pointed again.

Sam and Dean looked over their shoulders at him, "Or what?" Sam asked with a defiant smirk, "You'll eat us." Kate rolled her eyes in exasperation wishing they would just shut up already but she wasnt going to say anything just yet, she was slowly inching her stele out of her back pocket.

"Not so fast, there's rituals to be followed first." He smiled smugly.

"Oh." The woman crowed like it was some big treat, "We're sticklers for ritual."

"And you know what kicks off the whole shebang?"

"Let me guess, Meadowsweet." Dean said with a shake of his head, "You had to figure that out didn't you Kate?"

"Oh do not put this on me!" She said disbelievingly.

"Oh here." The waoman said draping boughs of meadowsweet over all three of their shoulders. "Don't they just look darling."

"Good enough to eat." The man said and held up a curved knife, "Allrightly roo, step number two." He walked up to Sam and held the knife over hi arm.

"No, "Sam said, "No don't."

"Sam?" Dam called trying to look behind himself, "Sammy?"

"Ahhh!" Sam cried out as the man sliced his arm.

"Leave him alone you son of a bitch!" Dean shouted angrily and Kate winced as she saw the blood drip down Sam's arm and into the bowl the man held under it.

"Here how they talk to us," The man shook his head, "To gods, listen here pal back in the day we were worshiped by millions."

"Times have changed!" Dean snapped.

"You're telling me." The guy snorted. "All the sudden this Jesus character is the hot new thing in town and our altars are being ripped down."

"Two millenium, we kept a low profile, we assimilated." She smiled, "Why we play bridge on Tuesday nights. We're just like everybody else."

"Well you're not blending in as well as you'd think lady." Dean snapped again. Kate almost had the stele out of her pocket and into her hand. The woman swooped in and sliced Dean's arm just as the man had done to Sam. "Urgh." He growled through his teeth, you bitch!"

"Oh my goodness me, someone owes a nickel to the swear jar!" She scolded in her annoying way and then looked over at Kate with a smile, "Your turn dear."

Kate struggled against her chains for a second before finding them tight as ever. She fixed the bitch with an evil glare and held her head up high, if they were going to cut her up and eat her, she atleast wanted to go with her dignity intact.

"You leave her alone you bitch!" Dean shouted at her.

"Hey!" Sam called angrily, "Get away!"

The female god lifted up the hem of Kate's shirt and sliced a line right below her belly button.

Kate clenched her teeth and hissed. She could feel the cut burning and felt the blood dripping down onto her jeans. The woman caught some of the drippage in the bowl with a delighted smile. "I swear I'm going to kill you, you evil bitch." Kate whispered.

"Such language! You know whenever I feel like cursing I say Fudge." The woman said as if she was scandalized, "Didn't your mother teacher you anything?"

The siblings were all instantly twice as furious as they had been the moment before. Kate spat in her face. The woman's smile slipped from her smug face and she backhanded kate across the face. Kate blinked her eyes against the sting and tears. She glared at the woman with teary eyes.

The man picked up a pair of pliers from the table and looked at them keenly, "You kids dont know how lucky you are. There was a time when kids came from miles around just to be sitting where you are."

"What are you doing with those?" Sam asked apprehensively.

"You fudging touch me again and I'll fudging kill you." Dean growled at the woman.

"Very good." She praised and then proceeded to slice open his other arm. Meanwhile Kate had just pulled the stele in her hand and was beginning to hold it against the chains in the hopes that it would burn through them.

The man then struggled with Sam to open his fist so he could rip out a fingernail.

Sam yelled in pain as the fingernail was slowly pulled off. "Oho! We've got a winner!"

"Merry Christmas guys." Dean said in a pained voice.

The man walked over to Dean and forcefully grabbed his chin, Dean struggled trying to throw his head back and forth. The man forced the pliers into his mouth and around a tooth. He was right about to rip it out when the doorbell rang. The gods glanced at each other and Dean's muffled voice came from behind the man's fingers, "Aren't you going to get that?" His eyes widened in emphasis. "You really should get that."

The gods sighed and ripped off their aprons. They walked out of the room and instantly there was a snap and a clatter as the chains around Kate broke. She freed her arms with a triumphant grin. She gave a little chuckle and shook off the chains as quietly as she could and used her seraph blade to slice right through the cords trying up her brothers. they all stood and crept out of the kitchen. They heard the gods shut the front door and their footsteps came back towards the kitchen. "Oh where were we?" They heard the woman's voice say. They slammed the doors to the kitchen shut. Kate traced a locking rune onto the wood and for good measure Sam pulled out a drawer. They ran around to the other side and helped Dean push a cabinet in front of the door. They went to the tree and tipped it onto its side. The boys each ripped off a limb and Kate drew out both her blades and called their names.

"Arghh!" The man came out of nowhere lunging at Dean with his arms outstretched. Sam went to help him and got pulled back by the woman, "You little thing," She said, "I really loved that tree."

"I got this Sam." Kate said and narrowed her eyes. He nodded before running over to Dean and ripping the man off of him.

Kate lashed out with her right hand ripping the woman's ugly christmas sweater. With her face set in a growl she launched herself at Kate and Kate stabbed her straight through the heart.

"Midge!" The man yelled distracted as he watched his female counterpart fall dead. Sam grabbed his makeshift stake and stabbed the man through the back right as Dean stabbed him through the front.

With a grunt Dean rolled to the side and Sam let the dead man fall. With both Gods dead the siblings looked at each other. Kate let the glow from her knives fade and looked at Dean who had his arms held away from his sides. "I'll go down and get our stuff." She offered and Sam stepped forward, "I'll go with you."

She nodded and Sam followed her into the kitchen and down the stairs into the cellar. Sam picked up the bag and Kate bent over with a wince to pick up some discarded stakes. Blood had soaked through her black shirt leaving a large area shining with fresh blood. She straightened and followed Sam's gaze to the bag hanging by a chain. They glanced at each other before walking forward. Sam lifted the bag, and the person inside immediately started to struggle. Kate unhooked it from the chain and she helped Sam lower it gently to the ground. Kate went for the drawstring and opened the bag. A flailing arm followed by a head of dark curly hair matted with blood popped out. The man's eyes were wide with alarm and terror he struggled to break free of the tangled bag and stumbling, pushed his way out of it. "Who are you!" he asked hunched over at the waist and his arms held out in front of him in a defensive stance.

"Mr. Walsh?" Sam asked calmly.

The man started and took a step back, "How do you know me?"

"We talked to your wife." Kate started, "We came to save you."

"Karen?" Mr. Walsh stepped towards them eagerly, "Is she okay? Are the kids alright?"

"Calm down." Sam soothed him, "They're fine, just worried about you."

"Come on." Kate said holding out her hand to him and nodded her head at the stairs, "Let's get you out of here."

He nodded and warily took the offered hand, he walked up the stairs after the youngest Winchester and Sam followed behind them.

Mr. Walsh almost fainted when he saw the bodies and it took some time to calm him down and assure him that they weren't murderers. They told him all about the evils in this world and told him that he was to tell the police that he had killed them in self defense. That he had escaped the prison of that basement and when they had come at him he had used limbs from the tree to kill them. With all the evidence of past murders in the basement and the bowls of Winchester blood in the kitchen the police would believe his story easily and he would be free to go home to his family.

Kate laughed at Sam as she stuck a crappy Santa hat on his entirely too large head. It fell off and she gave up, she walked over to her bags and pulled out two gifts wrapped in newspaper. She set them on top of the coffee table and under their tiny tree.

"When did you get those?" Sam asked with a guilty tone to his voice.

She shrugged, "When we were home for Thanksgiving."

He nodded and pulled three similar packages from his own bag and brought them over to the tree.

"When did you get those?" Kate mocked his question with a grin.

"Yours? Same time." He grinned, "Dean's a half hour ago."

She laughed, "How nice Sam, waiting until the last minute."

The door opened then and Dean walked in and smiled, "What's all this?"

"What do you think it is?" Sam waved his hand around the room, "It's Christmas."

"What made you guys change your minds?" Dean asked.

"Well..." Kate stepped towards him, "For me, I decided I wanted a real Winchester family Christmas for once."

Sam looked away and grabbed up a cup of eggnog from the table and handed it to Dean, "Here try the eggnog. Let me know if it needs some more kick."

Dean took a sip and made a face, "No, we're good." He glanced at Kate, "You want any?"

She looked at him like he was crazy, "you're kidding right? You don't like me drinking beer."

He shrugged, "It's one night, go for it."

Warily she picked up another cup and poured herself a glass, she didn't even blink at the taste. "Well, come on." She said setting down the glass. "She moved over to the tree and picked up the two presents she had just set down. She handed one to each of them. They didn't move and she waved her hands, "Well open them!"

Dean grinned and motioned for Sam to go first. Sam ripped off the paper and pulled out a brand new laptop. He stared at it shocked after a moment he looked up at Kate and shook his head, "You really shouldn't have spent so much money on me." His voice was disapproving but he couldn't hide the fact that he liked his gift.

"You want me to take it back?" She asked sarcastically, Sam clutched it to his chest and she laughed. "Besides I earned the money scamming drunks playing pool. I broke your last one and I wanted to get you something nice. You like?"

He set it down and stood up to hug her, "I love. Thank you."

She patted his shoulder and said nothing when he sat back down she looked at Dean, "Sorry, I couldn't think of anything to get you."

He gave her a smile and opened his, "Inside was a thick black canvas jacket with a sheepskin lining. He lifted it up and a note fell out and onto the floor. He reached down and picked it up.

"Now this is the part I think you'll like." She said almost nervously.

He opened up the folded piece of paper and looked at it. It read,

**Dean~**

**I know you've been complaining about the Impala's engine for the past year**

**and I figured I'd do something about it. You've got a brand new engine waiting for you at Bobby's garage,**

** Hope you like.**

**~Love Katie Bean.**

The paper fell from his hand and he looked up at her, "You didn't."

She nodded, "I did."

He jumped up laughing and grabbed her around the middle. He bounced on his feet a couple of times. "No way!"

He put her down and she laughed at the shocked and ecstatic expression on his face, "You can't tell me you hustled pool for that."

She shook her head, "No, it came from working back when I was stilling living in the house." She shrugged, "You deserve it."

He looked at her in awe, "I can't believe you did all this. Thank you kid, really."

"Holy shit!" Sam said as he looked up from reading the note. "You just put all our gifts to shame."

She laughed again, "That's the point college boy, go big or go home."

Sam laughed and grabbed her in a headlock, "You little brat."

"All right, all right." dean said, "My turn."

He handed Sam and Kate each a bag. Sam opened his and inside was a can of shaving cream and two skin mags. He laughed and Dean asked, "You like?"

He nodded, "Yeah, I like."

"Good." Dean said and nodded at Kate to open hers. Inside was a giant bag of warheads, her favorite, and a car magazine. She smiled, "Thanks Dean, these are great." She held up the candy, "You know me well." She ripped open the package and took out two individually wrapped candies. and popped them in her mouth.

Sam placed two gift on Dean lap and one on his little sister's. Dean opened his first finding a candy bar and oil for his car. "Ah, fuel for me and fuel for my baby. These are awesome, thanks."

Sam nodded and looked at Kate. She opened her curiously and found a leather bound book with no visible title. She glanced at Sam confused.

"It's a book with everything the human race has been able to find on Shadowhunters and their history. Believe it or not but you're angelic name is even in there, said you came to earth during WWII and helped the Americans at Pearl Harbor by stopping a battleship from getting hit." Sam explained.

Kate looked at him in surprise, "Wow Sam. Thank you."

He nodded a little embarrassed. Dean raised his glass, "Merry Christmas guys." They all touched glasses and downed what was left of the eggnog.

"Hey Dean," Sam started and stopped. He looked around and his smile fell he took a deep breath and shook his head, "Do you feel like watching the game?" He asked and Kate felt certain that hadn't been what he was going to say.

"Absolutely." Dean said back and Sam turned it on. They pushed all their gifts to the side and Kate sat down and curled into Dean's side. They watched all the way to halftime and Kate was falling asleep with her head in Dean's lap and his hand on her hair when her phone rang. She sighed and sat up, she flipped it open but waited until she was outside before she said anything.

"Hey Sebastian." She said in a tired but pleased voice.

"Merry Christmas, babe." He replied lightly and she smiled.

"Merry Christmas."

"How are you doing?" He asked slightly concerned.

"I've been better considering, but we had a little Christmas thing and I think it made us all feel a little bit better." She told him honestly, "Oh, and we almost got killed by Pagan gods that thought it would be a real treat to eat a little slice of Heaven."

Sebastian tried and failed to hold in a laugh, "You're okay then?"

She smiled, "Yeah, we're fine."

"I've got a name for you." He said suddenly serious.

She stiffened, "What kind of name?"

"The contract holding kind." He replied.

SHe let out the breath she didn't know she'd been holding, "What is it?"

"Lilith."


	22. Chapter 22

I just noticed a typo in chapter 20! In the first paragraph it says:

Hope was fading fast and still they no leads on Lilith.

I didn't mean to write Lilith! It was supposed to say the contract!

When i was writing chapter 20 i was thinking ahead to the next chapter! Sorry for any confusion!

* * *

Wow I just watched the new Pepsi commercial twice because Gabriel is the Pepsi guy! I miss Gabriel!

* * *

"And I say we're going back!" Tamara argued fiercely.

"Just hold on a second-" Sam started but Tamara just cut him off with a desperate cry.

"I just left my husband bloody on the floor!"

"Look lady," Kate interjected, "Your husband is gone, he's dead." Tamara swelled with anger and started to protest but Kate cut her off before she could start, "It's harsh, I know, and believe me I am so sorry but I'm not going to let you go off on some suicide mission just because your upset."

"You're damn right I'm upset-"

"Look I'll go with her." Dean said trying to play mediator.

"It's suicide, Dean!" Sam shouted.

"Yeah well I'm dead already."

Kate let out a strangled gasp. She glared at her brother and took a step forward slapping him across the face. With tears in her eyes and spun on her heel and stalked into the living room. She could hear everyone shouting, their voices mingling together and causing her a headache. She slumped down into the couch and closed her eyes. God, she thought my brother is a total ass hole. She sat there a while trying to calm herself down. She heard the sound of footsteps by the door and ignored them, she didn't feel like talking. The footsteps came closer and after a pause someone sank down into the couch next to her.

"I didn't mean that." Dean said quietly.

She closed her eyes tighter and sighed.

"I know you can hear me." He said in an exasperated tone.

"What do you want?" She asked with her eyes still closed.

"To say... well to say I'm sorry and to tell you we aren't going to have to go to the bar."

She crakced open one eye to stare at him suspiciously, "What does that mean?"

"It means," Dean sighed, "That 6 of the Seven Deadly Sins are coming to find us."

She sat up and looked at him, "Well thats great, how in the hell are we going to kill them all? I only have one knife and I dropped my stele at that bar. I don't have the time or energy to make another right now."

"We'll manage." Dean said grimly. "We'll have too."

"Come on then." Kate said standing up, "Let's get to work."

They lined all the doors and windows with salt lines, loaded all the shotguns with salt rounds and filled all the sinks and the bathtub with holy water. Kate also had to deal with the demon they had trapped in the devils trap, regrettably killing the demon's meatsuit.

They waited silently by the doors knowing somehow the demons would find a way in. "Tamara! Tamara!" Her husband's agonized voice came calling from outside. Kate glanced up at the older woman who had tears running down her face. Kate looked away and closed her eyes, trying to block the screaming from outside. "God, what I wouldn't do for a good silencing rune right about now."

Finally the screaming became too much for Tamara and she ripped open the door screaming, "You son of a bitch!"

"Go!" Kate yelled and everyone scattered backing up into the doorways to the different parts of the house. Demons surged into the house. An attractive blonde demon raced after Dean up the stairs and a fat looking man followed Bobby into the Kitchen. A demon with a brunette host went after Kate and the remaining two went up the stairs to where Sam and Dean were.

"So you're the great Kate." The demon said mockingly and she sauntered towards Kate arrogantly. "I have to say, not what I expected."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Kate replied snarkily she held her knife loosely in her hand, waiting for an opening.

She demon smirked, "You're supposed to be some huge threat to demons everywhere, but honestly, I just don't see it."

The youngest Winchester tilted her head and shrugged, "You'll see it." She said and lunged catching the she demon on the shoulder and she tried to spin away from the knife. The demon's eyes seemed to flash an even deeper black and her lip curled up in a snarl. "Ah you're catching on." Kate taunted, and it worked the demon attacked and Kate ducked down to run the blade under her chin and up into her skull. The demon flickered orange around the knife and when she pulled out the blade sunk lifelessly to the floor. With a grimace Kate wiped to blood off with the rag in her back pocket. She really hated killing demons because it killed the human trapped inside, but it never felt like enough to send it back to hell.

"Everyone ok?" She shouted through the house.

A chorus of four yeses came from different parts of the house. Sam's heavy footfalls came quickly down the stairs. "Did you see her?"

Kate frowned, "Who?"

"That girl! The one with a demon killing knife!" He said earnestly.

"Sam I didn't see anyone come in or out." She said quietly.

Sam looked confused, "Well she was definitely here, she killed the two that came after me."

Kate and Dean shared a disturbed look and Kate glanced around the room. "We've got to clean up." She said effectively ending the conversation about the girl.

With the bodies burned and the living ones properly told all about what goes bump in the night the siblings were off. When they got to their destination they checked in at a motel. "What do we know?" Kate asked Sam.

"Five suspicious deaths in the last three weeks, only connection is they all had kids." He answered her, "Dean was pretty gung hoe to take this case."

She frowned and glanced out the door at Dean who was putting some weapons in the trunk. "Why?"

He shrugged, "Something about a girl."

Kate rolled her eyes of course it's about a girl, what else? "He's such a man whore."

Sam snorted and then sobered immediately, "We shouldn't even be working a case, we only have less than three weeks."

"I know." SHe checked to make sure Dean was out of earshot and whispered, "What else can we do? From what Seb's been telling me Lilith isn't someone you just find, she finds you."

"So we should be doing something!" He whispered shouted back.

She pulled on her jacket and put her new stele into its holster next to her gun the was hidden under her shirt, "We are doing something, we're hunting. Come on." She left Sam inside and went out to Dean, "What's the plan?" She bent down to fix the seraph blade in her boot.

"You and Sam are going to go eat, and I am going to visit an old friend." He replied with an easy grin.

She raised an eyebrow, "An old friend, really Dean?"

"Yes, now get in the car I'll drop you somewhere."

She ducked into the backseat and Sam closed the motel door and got in the front.

Dean dropped them off at some diner and drove off.

They got seated and ordered food when Sam pulled out his laptop and a notebook. He started to take down notes after he found the site he was looking for. She sighed and got up from the booth, "While you do that, I'll be in the bathroom."

Sam nodded not even looking up from his work. She rolled her eyes and headed to the bathroom. She washed her hands and looked at herself in the mirror. She looked tired and she was surprised her hair didn't resemble a rat's nest. She pulled out her cell and called Sebastian.

He answered on the first ring. "Hey you."

She grinned, she always felt better after hearing his voice. "Hey."

"Everything okay? Bobby just got back, said things got pretty heavy."

"Yeah, no everything's fine. Dean just ditched us for an old girlfriend actually."

"Really?" Sebastian asked slightly amused.

"Well, I don't actually know he said old friend, but you know Dean he doesn't have friends he has dates."

"Harsh."

"Well it's true!" She laughed.

She heard him sigh, "It's good to hear you laugh, I miss you."

"Yeah." She said wistfully, "I miss you too."

"When do you think I'll see you?" He asked apprehensively.

"I'm not sure." She said avoiding the subject but he could hear in her voice what she was trying to hide.

"No matter what happens you are coming home alive, do you hear me?" His voice was loud in her ear, scared and angry.

She closed her eyes, "I'll try."

"No dammit!" He shouted, "Don't try! Make sure you come home!"

"Sebastian," She sighed and hesitated, "We don't know what's going to happen, how its going to happen. But Sam and I are not going to leave Dean to die alone, if he dies he's not going to be alone." Her voice broke and she had tears in her eyes.

"I know." He said quietly, all the anger had fled from his voice now it was only scared and concerned. "But please, please, do whatever you have to do to make it back to me. I can't lose you too."

She leaned her head back against the wall and forced the tears back, "I'll try."

"Kate-"

"No, I'll try. " She said her voice soft, "I'm sorry Seb. But right now that's all I can offer you."

"Please." He said his voice choked with grief and he hung up.

She clutched her phone to her chest and forced herself to breathe. In and out, in and out. She put her phone away and walked back into the diner. A blonde girl was sitting in her seat and Kate sped up to stand at the edge of the table. "Who are you?" She asked harshly.

The girl narrowed her eyes and glanced up at Kate, "Well lookie here. If it isn't miss 7th Heaven."

Kate stiffened, "Answer the question who are you?"

"A hunter." The girl said with a smirk, "And a damn good one too."

Kate stared down at the girl, "You're the girl with the knife aren't you?"

"Smart girl." The blonde said dryly.

Something about the girl just felt off and Kate couldn't figure out why, but before she could ask anymore questions Sam asked. "What about my mom?"

Kate tensed her whole body going on red alert.

"You know, what happened to her friends..." She said giving Sam a meaningful look. "You don't know. You've got a little bit of catching up to do my friend."

"Nobody's friends here." Kate said sharply, "Not if your holding out info about our Mom."

"Look it up. " The girl said with a dangerous glint in her eyes, "You'll find out everything you'll need to know and when you do..." She pulled out a pen and wrote a phone number on a napkin, "Give me a call." She made to get up from the booth and Kate blocked her way.

"Fine, we will." Kate said. "But first, how did you get that knife, it's not angel."

"Ah you are a smart one," She said crossing her arms over her chest. "I know about your brother." She said sidetracking both of them.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sam asked eagerly.

She shrugged, "I can save him, oh and I can get the colt working too."

Kate shook her head slowly, "You lying bitch." Sam looked shocked. "I knew there was something off about you." She lifted her left arm and bared her wrist, the girl's eyes flashed black and then went back to blue.

The blonde was angry, "I'm not a liar." She glanced back at Sam who looked wary. "I really can save your brother."

"Even if you could, though I seriously doubt it, we could never trust a demon." Kate growled.

"Look, if you want your brother to die, fine." The demon shrugged, "I don't have to help you."

"What's in it for you?" Sam asked.

"Pissing off Lilith is enough."

"How? How can you save Dean?" Sam asking too trusting for his own good.

"Sam! You can't seriously be buying this! She's a demon!." Kate whispered urgently. "We're leaving Sam! Now."

"What? No!" Sam argued. "This is our chance."

"I mean it." Kate said, "We're getting out of here or I go postal on a demon in public." She threatened. Sam glowered but pocketed the napkin and nodded to the demon. He gathered his things and stalked off. Kate Glared at the demon still trapped in the booth, "Sure you're not a Hell's angel?" It asked her sarcastically.

"Stay away from Sam, or I'll kill you." Kate warned and walked away, hating the feeling of leaving her back open to a demon.

"What the hell was that?" Sam snapped as soon as she was outside, "We're leaving Sam." He mimicked.

"You weren't seeing what was right in front of your face Sam." She said walking down the street with him keeping up next to her. "She's a demon Sam, demon's lie."

"Maybe she can help!" He shouted.

"Help what? Help you lose your mind!" She yelled back, "If you had listened to her, you would have been filled with hope to have her let Dean die and crush you while your down."

Sam scoffed, "I can't believe you!."

Kate set her jaw and started to walk faster, "And what about me is so hard to believe."

"I thought you wanted to save Dean! You were the one who was looking for every possible way, and you just called the only way a lying bitch"

"Because that is what she was Sam." Kate said quietly, "We are done talking about this." She pulled out her phone and called Dean.

"Can you come get us?" She asked.

"Yeah, you still at the diner?"

"Yeah. see you soon."

She closed the phone and turned around walking back the way they came.

"What are you doing?" Sam asked in angry exasperation.

"Dean's picking us up at the diner." She said shortly and ignored him.

"No, you go." Sam snapped, "I'll get back myself." He turned around for the second time and headed back up the street. Kate stopped and watched until he turned the corner and was out of her sight. She ran a hand through her hair.

"Dammit Sam." She muttered more out of regret than anger. It wasn't that she didn't want to save Dean, she did, but she wasn't going to trust something pure evil to save him. Look where that got him in the first place.

Never trust a demon. It was so obvious it didn't even need to be a rule, did it?

She slumped down on a bench outside the diner and waited until Dean pulled up.

"Where's Sam?" Dean asked when she got inside.

"He walked." She said shortly.

"What's with the stick up your ass?" Dean asked.

"Your brother's an idiot."

Dean raised an eyebrow and glanced over at her. "My brother? What did you two get into a fight or something?"

She sighed and leaned her head on the window, "Just drop it Dean."

He made an annoyed sound but said nothing.

"So how did it go with Liz, or whatever her name is?" Kate questioned trying to diffuse the tension in the car.

Dean snorted, "Lisa. She's got an eight year old kid."

Kate frown at him, "So?"

Her brother shifted uncomfortably, "Last time I 'saw' Lisa was almost nine years ago."

"Oh." Her face lit up in realization, "Oh." She turned in her seat her attention fully on him. "You don't think he's... you know?"

He scratched his ear in agitation. "I don't know, she says he's not mine but... the kid is like a mini me it's insane."

Kate grinned, "So what you think she's lying to you?"

He sighed, "No but I mean once you see this kid you'll understand. He loves ACDC, he's a ladies man... He even looks kinda like me."

She smiled gently, "There isn't much you can do if she says he's not yours. I mean you don't want him to be yours do you?"

Dean frowned and his expression turned thoughtful, she turned away to let him think knowing if he answered it probably wouldn't be the truth.

"Changelings? What the hell is a Changeling?" Kate asked Sam back at the motel.

"Creature's that take the place of children to feed on the mothers." He said simply.

She shuddered, "Gross." She stopped twirling her stele between her fingers and started using it to file down a sharp corner of her nail. "How do we kill it? Stake's? Headshot?"

"Fire." Dean answered reading over Sam's shoulder. "What happens to the real kids?"

Sam squinted at the screen. "Looks like they keep them alive, usually hidden somewhere underground."

"Sewers?" Kate suggested.

Sam shook his head, "Too wet."

Dean looked up suddenly, "I know where they're keeping them come on." He walked swiftly over the the dresser and picked up his gun and jacket. "But we have to make a pit stop."

"What?" Sam frowned as he followed his siblings out the door.

"Lisa's got a kid." Kate supplied and Sam nodded in understanding. "Oh."

Dean drove to Lisa's speeding the whole way and ran up to the front door. He rang the bell and waited impatiently, shifting from foot to foot. Lisa opened the door with a surprised look. "Dean. What do you want?"

"I- Uh-" Dean answered not really sure what to say.

"Make him leave mommy." Ben's voice sounding strangely too young and flat comes from behind Lisa.

Lisa gives Dean a somewhat triumphant look and says, "you heard him. Leave."

She shuts the door in Dean's face, "Lisa! Come on!" He calls through the door. Kate watches as he runs around the back of the house. After a minute he comes runs out to the car and gets in, "They got Ben."

"Damn." She hissed, she hated it when cases involved kids.

Dean drove like a madman through the neighborhood. Until he came to a half built house. The three siblings flew out of the car ad Sam ripped open the trunk and got out two makeshift blow torches. Dean held out a flashlight for his sister and she took it. They didn't need guns tonight.

"Kate go around the back, be careful." Dean told her and she nodded and circled around to the back of the house. The place where a sliding glass door would be was just a big hole and she walked through it quietly. She couldn't hear anything unusual in the house other than her own footsteps. Kate took a turn and start downstairs and into the basement. Structural beams and plastic were placed throughout the room. She spun quickly on her heel as she heard Dean start down the steps he walked over to her with a nod and they continued to search. Dean walked around a wall and saw metal dog kennels lining the wall, with each one having a child inside and the last had a middle aged woman with red hair. Dean reached his fingers through the bars of one as Kate walked towards him. "Ben. Ben?" He nodded at the boy, "It's okay we're gonna get you out of here."

Katie walked over to the cage and scribbled a unlocking rune into the lock mechanism. She repeated the gesture to each cage. Dean crouched down to get Ben out of the cage and the boy wrapped his arms around Dean as Dean stood. With one arm Dean cradled him and took a few steps before setting him down. Kate glanced at her brother and the kid and shook her head in disbelief at the obvious resemblance. Ben helped the siblings empty out the cages and soon they had a troop of eight year olds surrounding them.

Dean walked over to the window and smashed it in. He looked around and Ben shrugged off his jacket, "Here use this."

Momentarily surprised Dean took the jacket and draped it over the broken glass. He tried to usher Ben over, "Alright come on come."

Ben pushed another boy in front of himself, "Him first."

Dean hoisted the boy up to the window and Sam came crashing into the basement, "There's a mother."

"A mother changeling!" Kate asked loudly.

"Yes!" Sam made a hurrying motion with his hands, "we have to get these kids outta here."

Kate helped Dean get the kids out while Sam went over and helped the woman out of her cage. One of the little girls suddenly screamed and Kate turned to see a perfect copy of the woman standing there. She went after Dean first, throwing him through a couple of support beams. Kate charged as Dean yelled, "Ben, get 'em out'ta here!" The changeling ducked Kate's swipe at her neck and swung out with her leg knocking the shadowhunter off balance. Sam fumbled with his lighter and the changeling kicked it out of his hand. She kicked at Sam and threw him into a pile of sheet metal. When the woman turned around Kate chucked the blade and struck the creature in the middle of her chest. The Changeling gave a brief smirk before realizing it wasn't just any blade, it's face showed pure terror before it burst into flames and disappeared.

Breathing heavily the Winchester's stared at each other. After a moment they gathered everything they had brought into the house and made their way outside. They got into the car and one by one dropped off each changeling victim, saving Ben for last. It was daylight before they pulled into Lisa's driveway.

She came running out the front door just as Dean opened the passenger door to the impala and got out. He smiled at LIsa before taking a step back so Ben could get out. The boy ran at hims mother with a cry. Lisa wrapped her son into a huge hug, practically sobbing into his neck. Dean walked towards them with Bean jacket in his hand. The remaining Winchesters got out of the car and stood by the open doors.

"What the hell just happened?" Lisa asked Dean when she set Ben back on the ground.

"I'll explain everything if you want me to, but trust me you probably don't." He half smiled, "The important thing is Ben's safe."

"Thank you." Lisa said weakly and hugged Dean.

"We'll give you guys some time." Sam said and he and Kate got back in the car. They waited in silence for almost ten minutes before Dean walked outside with a strange look on his face. He shook his head before hooking his thumb, "Move over Sasquatch." Kate smirked and climbed back into the backseat.

"What happened?" She asked as soon Dean sat down.

"Nosy." Dean muttered but turned to look at her, "Told her about the Changelings."

"And Ben?" She pressed, "You absolutely sure he's not yours?"

Dean snorted, "She said his dad was a guy she met at a biker bar. I don't think she has a reason to lie."

"And your going to buy that? The kid is exactly like you!"

Her brother turned around to glare at her, "And what if he was mine?" He raised his eyebrows and pursed his lips, "Hm? I could be his dad for two seconds and then I'm dead. I don't have much to offer LIsa or the kid. So drop it Kate."

He turned back around away from her shocked expression and started the impala. Sam, who had watched the whole exchange quietly, hesitantly asked, "Where to?"

"Bobby's."


End file.
